HK police call for curfew amid unrest
Hang Seng bucks global trend, rebounds after news of government ban on face masks
HONG Kong—demonstrators clashed with police into the early hours of Thursday, throwing petrol bombs and venting their anger over the shooting of a teenager on Tuesday.
Police urged the government to impose curfews to help curb the escalating violence in the city, where officers have become a target of protesters amid accusations of excessive force.
Night of mayhem
Activists went on the rampage in districts across the Asian financial hub late into the night, setting fires, blocking roads and vandalizing shops and metro stations as police fired tear gas to disperse them.
“Wherever protests nearby there are I’ll come … I’m out tonight for a simple reason. You don’t shoot a teenager at point-blank range,” said Alex Chan, an interior designer at a protest in the bustling shopping district of Causeway Bay.
Refusing to give up
“These protests will continue and we won’t give up.”
Thousands took to the streets on Wednesday to denounce the shooting by police of Tony Tsang, an 18-year-old secondary school student, which police said was an act of self-defense.
Tsang was shot at pointblank range as he fought a police officer with a metal pipe when demonstrators hurled petrol bombs at police who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon.
He has been charged with rioting, which carries a maximum
10-year sentence, and a police officer.
Tsang is in stable condition at a hospital and was not able to attend the court session but
about 200 supporters turned up to watch the proceedings.
Rail operator MTR Corp. closed some stations just before midnight on Wednesday as violence escalated once again. All affected stations reopened on Thursday.
Lam Chi-wai, chair of Junior Police Officers Association, urged the city’s leader to impose a curfew to maintain public order, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
“We are only an enforcement agency with limited power under the law. When facing such a series of massive rioting incidents, we cannot work alone—clapping only with one hand—without appropriate measures and support from top level,” Lam said.
Tattered public image
The Hong Kong public has become increasingly hostile toward police amid accusations of heavy-handed tactics. Police say they have shown restraint in the face of increased violence.
But the Hong Kong stock market jumped to a week’s high on Thursday after local media reported that the government could outlaw face masks to help quell the protests.
Uptick after gov’t action
The benchmark Hang Seng Index, down for much of the day along with other Asian markets, rose over 300 points and reversed all the day’s losses by mid-afternoon on news of a potential mask ban.
The Hong Kong government is under increasing pressure to find a solution .
Goldman Sachs estimated this week that the city might have lost as much as $4 billion in deposits to rival financial hub Singapore between June and August.