Thousands of Hong Kong police crush defiant China Day protests

AT LEAST 87 people were arrested in Hong Kong yesterday during angry confrontations between small groups of pro- democracy protesters and riot police on China’s national day holiday.

The Chinese-ruled city had been bracing for trouble after a proposed march by one of the largest anti-government groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, was denied permission.

Last year’s national day marked one of the most violent moments of the civil unrest that disrupted the city for months when the police opened fire with live rounds.

This year, at least 6,000 police officers outnumbered a few hundred protesters. The pandemic and a draconian national security law introduced in

June, which can impose life sentences for subversion, have had a chilling effect on the protest movement that brought millions to the streets last summer to demand free and fair elections and greater civil rights.

However, despite the dwindling numbers, the crowd was still defiant in central Hong Kong’s major shopping district as the riot police pulled pedestrians aside and searched their bags tryi ng to i dentif y pro - democracy supporters.

“I’m in my 50s but I can’t see any hope for Hong Kong’s future. I feel pity for the next generation,” said one protester who identified himself as Mr Cheng. “Walking on the streets alone can attract police officers,” he said. “When did this become a crime?”

Among those held were four district councillors arrested for unauthorised assembly. Protesters, who wanted to show support for 12 Hong Kong citizens detained in China after trying to escape to Taiwan by sea, moved swiftly and fluidly to evade arrest.

But at times they broke into spontaneous protest chants or shouted taunts at the police, prompting riot officers to charge into the crowd.

Some forms of protest were more subtle. Creative demonstrators left a

Bluetooth speaker on a street corner playing an unofficial protest anthem – now banned under the new law – before it was removed by officers.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong chief executive, hailed the city’s China national day celebrations.

“Over the past few months, an indisputable fact in front of everyone is that our society has returned to peace,” she said.