Protesters rip law boosting China’s sway
HONG KONG — Hundreds of thousands of people filled the sweltering streets of Hong Kong on Sunday in an immense protest against fraying freedoms that culminated after midnight with the police firing pepper spray and striking participants with batons.
The demonstration — organizers said more than 1 million participated, or nearly 1 in 7 Hong Kong residents — was one of the largest in the city’s history and a striking display of the fear and anger at the erosion of civil liberties that have long set this former British colony apart from the rest of the country. It focused on a government plan to allow extraditions to mainland China.
The rally was a dramatic rebuke of Carrie Lam, the city’s chief executive, and immediately raised the stakes in her contentious push to adopt the new legislation, which the ruling Communist Party in Beijing has endorsed.
Even after midnight the streets around the central government’s offices were packed with thousands of people waving signs saying “No China Extradition” and “No Evil Law,” reminiscent of the pro-democracy rallies five years ago that paralyzed several of the city’s main commercial and government districts. Riot police with batons and shields moved in to try to remove the protesters.
Sunday’s demonstration had been largely peaceful, though tempers flared near the government offices as the protesters urged police to free up more lanes for them to proceed.
The organizers of Sunday’s march said they hoped the numbers would show the breadth of disagreement with the extradition plan, which has stirred worries that people in Hong Kong, including foreign visitors, would be sent to face trial in Communist Partycontrolled courts in mainland China.
The protesters directed much of their opposition toward Lam, the chief executive, calling for her to step down. Late Sunday the government issued a statement saying the bill would prevent Hong Kong from becoming a haven for fugitives and pledging to “continue to engage, listen and allay concerns through calm and rational discussion.”
The turnout underscored the deepening anxiety that many residents feel over Beijing’s tightening grip over Hong Kong, a semiautonomous territory. The Communist Party had promised a “high degree of autonomy” before Britain returned the territory to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, but many feel that the city’s freedoms are steadily eroding under Beijing’s rule.