Hong Kong’s protesters march on with a new anthem
TENS of thousands of marchers took to the streets in Hong Kong with a new “protest anthem” yesterday, as pro-democracy protests entered a 15th week.
Demonstrators gathered outside a department store for a rally, despite the assembly being banned by police.
Some threw bricks at police outside the Chinese People’s Liberation Army base in the city’s Admiralty district, and other protesters tore down and set fire to a red banner proclaiming the 70th anniversary on Oct 1 of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
The illegal march marks the biggest protest since the measure which first sparked the protests – a law which would have allowed the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China – was withdrawn by the government.
Since then, the movement has demanded direct elections and is calling for an independent commission into police brutality. Protesters also want the unconditional release of detained demonstrators and for the authorities to stop describing the protests as riots.
Yesterday, protesters repeatedly sang Glory to Hong Kong, a song that has been dubbed an “unofficial national anthem”. It includes the lyrics: “Our flesh, our blood shall write this song. Free this land, stand with Hong Kong.”
Protesters held signs saying: “I thought freedom was a basic human right” and “Guard our future”.
Riot police fired rounds of tear gas, and hundreds of protesters surrounded the Legislative Council building, throwing bricks and petrol bombs.
Since the demonstrations started, Hong Kong’s police have arrested more than 1,300 people, aged from 12 to 76.