Hong Kong human chain protests criss-cross island
While many protesters joined hands, others held up cellphones to illuminate the lines of people. Pro-democracy activists inspired by anti-Soviet demonstration in Baltics
Supporters of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement lined city streets and part of the city’s harbour front Friday, inspired by a human chain in a historic Baltic states protest against Soviet control 30 years ago.
Participants fanned out across three routes totaling 40 kilometres over densely populated sections of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories.
The plans developed quickly online this week after a march on Sunday drew hundreds of thousands who demonstrated in the rain, a sign protesters had not been dissuaded by a police ban or warnings from the Chinese government.
Participants on Friday sang protest songs and chanted slogans. While many joined hands, others held up their cellphones to illuminate the lines of people. Several held signs with flags of foreign nations and the phrase, “Thank you for supporting freedom and democracy!”
“It actually enraged me, the way that the government, the (city’s) chief executive and then the police, how they carry out their jobs,” said Michael Ng who works in finance and joined the chain outside an upscale mall. “Very brutal, I would say. We are talking about human rights here.”
Police say their use of tear gas, rubber bullets and bean bag rounds has been necessary to clear streets of protesters who have pelted them with eggs, bricks and gasoline bombs.
In a protest dubbed “the Baltic Way,” nearly two million Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians formed a human chain more than 600 kilometres long on Aug. 23, 1989. Organizers of “The Hong Kong Way” said it would be a show of solidarity against the extradition law and police violence, as well as a plea for international support.
Earlier Friday, accountants marched in support of the prodemocracy movement, while the Canadian Consulate barred its staff from leaving the city on official business after a British Consulate employee was detained in mainland China. The Canadian Consulate didn’t say whether the travel restriction for local staff was related to the detention of the British Consulate employee, Simon Cheng Man-kit. He went missing two weeks ago after going on a business trip to Shenzhen, just across the border.
“At present, locally engaged staff will not undertake official business travel outside of Hong Kong,” the Canadian Consulate said.