• Hong Kong protesters defy police ban in show of strength,
HONG KONG — A sea of Hong Kong protesters marched through the dense city center in the pouring rain Sunday, defying a police ban, in a vivid display of the movement’s continuing strength after more than two months of demonstrations, days of ugly violence and increasingly vehement warnings from the Chinese government.
People began assembling in the early afternoon in Victoria Park, the starting point of huge peaceful marches in June that were joined by hundreds of thousands of protesters. The police approved the Sunday rally, but objected to plans to march to the Central district, citing clashes that had occurred after previous events. But protesters marched anyway.
By midafternoon, the park had filled with tens of thousands of people, and the demonstrators began to spill into nearby roads. Protesters holding signs jammed a multilane main road in the Causeway Bay shopping district, stopping traffic and forcing trams to slow to a crawl. The crowd inched toward the park amid heavy rain, shouting, “People of Hong Kong, keep fighting.”
Organizers estimated at least 1.7 million people had turned out — nearly 1 in 4 of the island’s 7 million- plus population — making it the second- largest march of the movement, after a protest by nearly 2 million June 16.
Police released a far lower crowd estimate, saying there were 128,000 protesters in Victoria Park during the peak period.
But when the march reached the government headquarters in the Admiralty district, the line of people behind stretched nearly 2 miles, with large crowds still waiting to leave the park.
“I came here for the future of Hong Kong and the next generation of Hong Kong. The government has not responded to our demands,” said sign language teacher Amy Bau, 41. “I have come out to march many times, and I will keep coming out if the government continues to not answer us.”
Roads and sidewalks across Hong Kong Island were filled with people on the march or trying to make their way to the start. Many subway trains skipped stops near the start, citing the large crowds, and traffic was snarled across many neighborhoods.
The march was peaceful throughout the day, following several days of relative quiet and no police use of tear gas over the weekend.
The turnout was being closely watched as a gauge of public sentiment after several tumultuous days. One week ago, riot police officers fired tear gas in one subway station and chased protesters down an escalator in another. At the Hong Kong airport, days of sit- ins swelled to fill the main terminal, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
The situation at the airport took a violent turn Tuesday when protesters surrounded two men from mainland China, including one identified as a state media journalist, binding them and hitting them. That abuse provoked widespread condemnation from China and apologies from protesters.
In recent days, the protests have quieted somewhat. Entering the weekend, the repeated call among protesters was to prepare to rally Sunday.
The protests began in June over a government proposal that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. That legislation has been shelved but not completely withdrawn, and the protestors’ demands have grown to include expanded elections and amnesty for arrested protesters. Many have complained about the use of force by the police and have accused the authorities of not investigating thugs who have attacked demonstrators.