Mass arrests on 1st day of security law
HONG KONG — A draconian new national security law failed to deter thousands in Hong Kong from attending illegal protests Wednesday, the 23rd anniversary of the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule.
Scattered demonstrations across Hong Kong Island, the city’s commercial and financial heart, were met with an overwhelming show of force from police who deployed water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters and, in some cases, journalists. Seven officers were injured, including one who was stabbed in the arm and three who were hit by a motorcycle, police said.
About 370 people were arrested by late evening, including 10 accused of violating the new law, a sweeping piece of legislation that gives China’s communist rulers nearcarte blanche to silence critics in a city that has fiercely defended its autonomy from Beijing. Most of the arrests were for alleged offenses such as unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct, police said.
The national security law is ostensibly designed to target acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security. But it clashes with local laws that guarantee residents freedoms of speech, assembly and press. A new security agency that answers to China will enforce the law and have the power to transfer suspects to the mainland.
Among the first to be arrested Wednesday for violating the new law were three protesters found carrying leaflets and a banner promoting Hong Kong independence, police said.
Introduced in the waning hours of Tuesday, the law sent a collective shudder across the semiautonomous city of more than 7 million people. Provisions preventing the law from being applied retroactively did little to stop Hong Kongers from deleting social media accounts and posts that could potentially be deemed illegal.
“I feel any post could put me in a dangerous position, and I don’t know what the repercussions will be,” said a protester named Mike who declined to give his surname for fear of attracting the attention of authorities.
The 39yearold, who runs an online media business, said he attended the protest because he didn’t want China and the
Hong Kong government to think he would accept the national security law without a fight.
“I came out today because I want the world to know Hong Kongers will never give up,” he said.