Anti-communist crowds marched through Hong Kong’s downtown areas Sunday to decry alleged police brutality and press their demands for political freedom. Many wore masks in open defiance of a government ban on facial coverings meant as a deterrent to protesters, whose four-month-old democratic rebellion has thrown the semi-autonomous enclave into crisis and caused consternation among China’s top leadership.
Protesters braved rain and thundery skies to assemble from lunchtime in the retail and entertainment district of Causeway Bay, chanting “Fight for freedom! Stand with Hong Kong!” as they set off in the direction of the city center. Live news streams also showed angry crowds gathering in the tourist district on the Kowloon peninsula, chanting “Hongkongers resist!” and singing “Glory to Hong Kong”—the song that many are calling Hong Kong’s “national anthem”—as they began marching up the tourist strip of Nathan Road.
The latest demonstrations come in the wake of the most violent unrest Hong Kong has seen in over 50 years. Protesters rampaged across the city on both Oct. 1—China’s national day—and again on Oct. 4, clashing with police and smashing the shopfronts of retailers with mainland Chinese connections. Two teenage boys were shot by police in separate incidents, an Indonesian journalist was blinded in one eye after being hit by a police projectile, and an undercover police officer narrowly escaped with his life after a mob momentarily set him alight with a petrol bomb. Scores of others were injured and hundreds of arrests were made.
The city’s train network came in for particularly savage assault, with protesters ransacking stations, starting fires, and attacking trains. Extensive damage meant that the entire system was suspended yesterday and only partial services resumed today.
Hong Kong appeared shell-shocked for much of Saturday, with banks, shops, malls, and government facilities shut, runs reported on ATMs, and panic buying breaking out at the few supermarkets that remained open. Protests resumed in the evening at multiple locations.
Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said Saturday that the extent of violence during Hong Kong’s four months of anti-government unrest warranted an independent probe. She called on Hong Kong authorities to launch an “effective, prompt, independent and impartial investigation” into the handling of the protests, which to date have led to more than 1,100 injuries.
Hong Kong’s political crisis was sparked by a now withdrawn extradition bill, which would have allowed the rendition of fugitives to mainland China for the first time. Opposition to the bill quickly grew into a repudiation of both the unrepresentative local government and of Beijing, which has labeled the movement a color rebellion. Many protesters are calling for self-determination or independence for the former British possession, which was retroceded to China in 1997 after 156 years of colonial rule.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
No comments:
Post a Comment