HONG KONG POLICE RETAKE LEGISLATURE
Tea r gas used on ‘violent’ protesters as fea rs grow over autonomy
Police used force to clear thousands of protesters in and around Hong Kong’s legislature after some broke into the complex and occupied it Monday, the 22nd anniversary of the semi-autonomous city’s return to Chinese rule.
The escalation has brought Hong Kong into unprecedented and uncertain territory, and represents the biggest test of Beijing’s grip over the global financial hub and the status under which it operates.
Protesters wearing yellow hard hats and carrying umbrellas smashed their way through metal barricades and glass doors surrounding Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. As they wrote graffiti on walls, tore down portraits of pro-Beijing officials and emptied rooms of chairs and desks, the mostly young protesters escalated weeks of tensions and massive demonstrations here to a new level.
The demonstrators occupying the complex wrote a declaration that included a call for overthrowing the “puppet Legislative Council and the Government,” and they vowed to stay. But just after midnight Tuesday, police equipped with riot shields, tear gas and other projectiles began ejecting protesters from streets surrounding the complex, sending them fleeing. Police then retook the complex, stopping and frisking the young protesters who remained nearby.
The scenes of defiance were the latest indication that anger here, sparked by plans to allow extraditions to China but now incorporating broader concerns about Hong Kong’s autonomy and Beijing’s influence, will not be easily quelled.
Later Monday night, police said the building was “violently attacked” and “illegally entered.” In a tweet, they warned that they would conduct a sweep with “reasonable force” and urged people to leave the area.
The Hong Kong government in a statement also condemned the “violent acts,” which it said was the work of “radical protesters.”
Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, said that police had exercised restraint in dealing with the protesters.
Protesters inside the building, however, vowed to come back even if they were cleared out.
“Unless universal suffrage and a just election system are in place, we shall never stand down,” they said in a statement.
Monday’s chaotic demonstrations came on a day when the territory’s return to Beijing is officially celebrated.
Before dawn, riot police and hundreds of protesters gathered on roads leading to a square where the Hong Kong and Chinese flags were set to be raised. The ceremony, which was attended by Hong Kong leaders and dignitaries including chief executive Lam, was moved indoors as crowds of protesters gathered. Officials said the event, which has never been held indoors, was moved because of “inclement weather.”
More than 500,000 demonstrators marched peacefully across the city and forced major thoroughfares to shut down.
As helicopters carrying the flags flew over, protesters below waved middle fingers at them. Earlier, protesters had replaced a Chinese flag with a black flag featuring a withered Bauhinia flower, a riff on the Hong Kong flag. That flag was still flying on Monday night.
Hospitals and police have not confirmed the number of injuries. Police said protesters had pelted officers with objects containing an “unknown liquid,” which made their skin swollen and itchy. Thirteen officers were treated at hospital and discharged.
July 1, the anniversary of the 1997 handover of sovereignty, has always been marked by marches featuring hundreds of thousands of people who want to uphold Hong Kong’s unique status, democratic characteristics and relative freedoms compared with mainland China.
But after weeks of unprecedented tensions in the territory, Monday’s protests took on a different flavour. In the face of an increasingly assertive Beijing, protesters saw the occasion as their final chance for a massive stand against a government they believe is not working in their interests.
“We are exhausted,” said a 22-year-old protester. “But today’s march is special. We think it will be the last one that people will come out (to) on a large scale. We have to show our disappointment and anger.”
An hour into the planned afternoon march, police sent out a warning, discouraging people from joining the procession.
“Police absolutely respect people’s freedom of assembly, procession and expression of opinion in a peaceful and orderly manner,” the statement said. “However, police’s risk assessment indicates that there is a serious safety threat”.
Yet, demonstrators turned up in the tens of thousands, filling Hong Kong’s main roads with a swell of shuffling people once again.
Lam has postponed the extradition plans, but demonstrators have continued to return to the streets in rallies like Monday’s — the revival of a pro-democracy movement that is now advocating for a freer Hong Kong, for Lam to step down and for police to be investigated for their handling of the street protests, among other demands.