Hong Kong plunges into pandemonium for second day in a row as protests continue
Hong Kong descended into pandemonium for the second day in a row on Sunday as police again fired tear gas and rubber bullets at pro-democracy protesters as clashes in the city become increasingly violent.
In the western end of Hong Kong island, rounds of tear gas coming from all sides were fired continuously to disperse protesters as riot police charged forward, beating people with batons and shields and cuffing others.
Anger among the largely peaceful demonstrators has escalated significantly after weeks of what many describe as unprecedented police brutality.
Some protesters responded by throwing projectiles including giant metal street signs and bricks at the police, while others shielded themselves from the tear gas with wooden boards and umbrellas. Police said some demonstrators set a cart on fire and pushed it toward a police cordon.
One man, 48, who gave the name Lych, moved 22 years ago from mainland China to Hong Kong as a young adult to enjoy the greater freedoms in the city. He said he was saddened to see such violence from the police towards protesters.
“The young people don’t see a future. Tell the world,” he said.
Specially-trained riot squad members, known as "Raptor" squads, made dozens of arrests, almost all of them young men and women. Several protesters were injured, as well as two journalists.
In a rare move, police did not approve Sunday's original route that would have moved demonstrators from the main business district west toward a harbourfront park in efforts to contain the turmoil. Instead, an assembly was approved for a public square in the central business hub for the afternoon.
But tens of thousands of people spilled into the streets, clogging subway exits and nearby shopping centres, with groups peacefully marching through and occupying several neighbourhoods both east and west, halting traffic on wide avenues.
Demonstrators, including young children with their parents, targeted different locations, including the police headquarters and the Chinese government’s liaison office, to express their frustration at the city’s leaders over a proposed extradition bill.
The office is a symbol of Communist Party rule in Hong Kong, and has for years been targeted by the pro-democracy movement seeking greater freedoms. Last weekend, protesters vandalised the building.
The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office - China's top policy unit for the two cities - said in an unusual move that it would hold a press conference Monday afternoon in Beijing.
“If we don’t keep coming out, we won’t have Hong Kong anymore,” said Catie, 19. “Our freedoms might not be the same as before.”
Protesters marching east stopped by late afternoon in Causeway Bay, a shopping district popular with tourists, pulling up metal gates from the pavement, dragging bus poles with heavy cement bases, and pushing trash bins to erect metal barriers.
Storefronts shuttered almost immediately in the affected areas, with attendants pulling down heavy metal grates and closing up for the day.
US and UK flags were spotted - a push from protesters to urge foreign governments to speak out in support of Hong Kong, a former British colony that has long enjoyed freedoms unseen in mainland China and guaranteed under a 50-year agreement when the territory was returned to Beijing.
Demonstrators chanted “add oil!,” a popular slogan to encourage each other, and “liberate Hong Kong!”.
Hong Kong has witnessed eight consecutive weekends of protests which have plunged the city into its worst political crisis in recent history. Millions of people first took to the streets to protest against an extradition proposal that would have sent suspects to face trial in mainland China.
Demands to scrap the bill have since evolved to calls for wider democratic freedoms, the resignation of the city’s chief executive and an independent inquiry into police actions, which protesters and rights groups have condemned as inappropriately violent at largely peaceful rallies.
Beijing has become more vocal in condemning the protests in recent weeks. While the Chinese central government has made it clear the military could be deployed if necessary in a move that would be eerily reminiscent of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, it has for now largely left Hong Kong leaders to deal with the situation.
The city’s embattled executive Carrie Lam has given a few press remarks, showing no signs of backing down beyond suspending the extradition proposal and stopping short of withdrawing it altogether - a decision that protesters say mean the city’s legislature could quickly revive and pass it at any time.
Demonstrators have also become more indignant and angry with city leaders who they feel are not listening to the people, as tensions escalate in a summer of protests that shows no sign of ending.
Police arrested 13 people, including organiser Max Chung, over Saturday's march - also not approved - which ended in violent chaos late at night.
Additional reporting by Yiyin Zhong.
