Violent clashes as Hong Kong marks China handover anniversary

[misskit]

Anti-government protesters trying to ram their way into Hong Kong's parliament battled police armed with pepper spray Monday as the territory marked the anniversary of its handover to China.


The angry scenes ramped up tensions in the international financial hub, which has been shaken by historic demonstrations in the past three weeks -- driven by demands for the withdrawal of a bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland.


Democracy activists kicked off another large march through the city on Monday afternoon.


But that rally was overshadowed by small groups of mainly young, masked protesters who had seized three key thoroughfares in the morning, sparking renewed clashes with police after two weeks of relative calm.


They smashed windows at the city's legislature and tried to force their way into the building by ramming a metal cart through reinforced glass doors.


Riot police inside the building wore gas masks as they squirted pepper spray at protesters, who unfurled umbrellas to shield themselves.


Some democratic lawmakers tried to intervene but had little luck persuading the protesters to withdraw.



- Sliding freedoms -


The huge rallies over the last three weeks are the latest expression of growing fears that China is stamping down on the city's freedoms and culture with the help of the finance hub's pro-Beijing leaders.


Benny, a 20-year-old student who gave only one name, said protesters had been prodded into action by the obduracy of the city's unelected leaders.


"This isn't what we want, the government forced us to express (our views) this way," he told AFP.


But the increasingly hardline tactics from some protesters have alienated others, with a large counter rally in support of the police taking place on Sunday.


Although Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997, it is still administered separately under an arrangement known as "one country, two systems".


The city enjoys rights and liberties unseen on the autocratic mainland, but many residents fear Beijing is already reneging on that deal.



- March underway -


Activists have organised a march every handover anniversary, calling for greater democratic freedoms -- such as the right to elect the city's leader.


They have mustered large crowds in recent years -- including a two-month occupation of parts of the city centre in 2014 -- but have failed to win any concessions from Beijing.


"When I heard that there are clashes outside (parliament), I was very worried," Amy Siu, a 37-year-old accountant taking part in the rally, told AFP. "I'm worried about the youngsters' safety. I hope they can be rational."


"I would not blame the young people, I blame the government," added an 80-year-old protester who gave his surname Yeung.

This year's rally, which will end at the parliament building, is framed by unprecedented anti-government protests of the past three weeks that have drawn millions, with the public angry over police use of tear gas and rubber bullets.


The spark for the current wave of protests was an attempt by chief executive Carrie Lam to pass the Beijing-backed extradition law, which she has now postponed following the public backlash.

The demonstrations have since morphed into a wider movement against Lam's administration and Beijing.



- Champagne toasts & flags -


Lam -- who has kept out of the public eye since her climbdown and has record low approval ratings -- attended a flag-raising ceremony early Monday, marking the moment the city returned to Chinese ownership 22 years ago.

But she and other dignitaries watched from indoors due to "inclement weather" -- the first time in the ceremony's history.


Her speech stuck to the conciliatory tone she has used in recent weeks.


"What happened in recent months has caused conflicts and disputes between the government and residents," Lam said. "It has made me fully understand that as a politician, I need to be aware and accurately grasp the feelings of the people."


She then raised a champagne toast alongside cabinet officials and two of her predecessors.


During clashes outside the venue at least one woman was seen bleeding from a head wound and officers made multiple arrests.


Some protesters hurled eggs at police, who later said 13 officers were also sent to hospital after being doused by an "unknown liquid".


Activists, who are mainly young students, have vowed to keep up their civil disobedience campaign.


"Whatever happens we won't lose heart," Jason Chan, a 22-year-old accountant added. "Resistance is not a matter of a day or a week, it is long term."

https://news.yahoo.com/roads-seized-...231529235.html

[Bettyboo]

There were certainly some serious looking police groups at both ends of the street when I was there two days ago.

[HuangLao]

Uh-huh.

....and then what?

[Cujo]

They would definitely have shipped in some mainland forces.

[Bettyboo]

They did look like a different sort of person to the other HK people/police that I saw. I don't know, but I did think at the time that they looked uncomfortable in their surroundings so my guess would be to agree with Cujo's statement.

Edit to add: the HK and Macau residents are very cool folks, but the young mainland Chinese folks seem to be upping their game not to embarrass themselves. I suspect that the Chinese authoritarians will have more trouble at home than hk...

[misskit]

Crowds of protesters converge outside Hong Kong's government complex after hours of mayhem

• Demonstrators vandalise entrances to Hong Kong's legislature causing unprecedented red alert

Live commentary

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3015620/protesters-ram-legislature-hong-kong-marks-tense-handover

[Looper]

the HK and Macau residents are very cool folks, but the young mainland Chinese folks seem to be upping their game not to embarrass themselves. I suspect that the Chinese authoritarians will have more trouble at home than hk...

Good news Betty and lets hope the chinky government is biting off more than it can chew trying to oppose popular western liberalism with authoritarian repression.

[Norton]

Getting dicey. Gonna be trouble. Protesters are in and taking over Legislative Council Building.

[harrybarracuda]

Seems like the chinkies don't want to wait until (the year) 2047.

[HuangLao]

Not gonna end pretty, that's for sure....

[Chittychangchang]

The protestors have raised the old colonial British flag.

Seems the HK police are on the side of the protesters.

Gonna be interesting to see how this pans out with the Chinese.

[harrybarracuda]

Of course what the chinkies fear most is that news of this spreads to the mainland and empowers people to go onto the streets there.

Could this be the "Chinky Spring"?

Will OhOh be along in a minute to blame it on the USA?

(Followed by his lapdog Klondyke with some other nonsensical bollocks).

[reddog]

^
OHOH is at home wondering why that great toe tapping song,The East Is Red, is not at the top of the music streaming sites.
It must be a imperialist-capitalist running dog plot against the masses who will now rise up against these anti-revelolutionary bandits
who are attacking the peace and prosperity of the future Peoples Democratic Socialist co-Republic in it's joyful union with the One-China Mainland(Marxist-Leninist)choir.

[Cujo]

Beijing will wait for things to quite down then go through the surveillance tapes and people will start being charged and disappearing into the system.

[Dragonfly]

looks like the HK people got the playbook from the Yellow Vests !!!

destroying government facilities does seem to get real attention for your cause

[misskit]

Protesters Dispersed With Tear Gas After Storming Hong Kong Legislature



Police fire tear gas at protesters near the government headquarters in Hong Kong, on the 22nd anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China, July 2, 2019. AFP










Hong Kong police fired tear gas late on Monday to disperse a large crowd of anti-extradition protesters who stormed the city's legislature, daubing the interior with protest banners and graffiti and hanging the flag of pre-1997 Hong Kong at the speaker's dais.

Large crowds began running from area around the Legislative Council(LegCo) as police in full riot gear began an operation using tear gas to clear protesters from the building, the area outside, and nearby Harcourt Road, livestreamed video footage showed.

Police hoisted warning signs to the crowd to disperse, before firing multiple rounds of tear gas, reaching the smashed glass doors and buckled security shutters of the legislature, where the crowd of anti-extradition protesters had surged through earlier in the night, shortly after midnight, government broadcaster RTHK reported.

"The LegCo building was violently attacked and [forcibly entered] illegally," the force said. "The police will conduct clearance operations shortly, and will use reasonable force ... and [we] appeal to [other] protesters to leave the vicinity."

As night fell, hundreds of anti-extradition protesters in Hong Kong stormed the building after huge crowds once more took to the streets to protest against plans to allow extradition to China, smashing through the reinforced glass with metal objects ripped from the nearby streets over several hours.

Clad in yellow construction helmets and using swimming floats strapped to their arms as shields, the protesters surged into the building after a long face-off with police in full riot gear, who appeared at first to offer no resistance.

Earlier, amid shouts of "Withdraw! Withdraw!", huge numbers of peoplejoined a peaceful march that saw an estimated one fourth of the city's adult population come out against planned amendments to the FugutiveOffenders Ordinance that would allow alleged criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China to face trial.

Many marchers revived calls for fully democratic elections in the city. The ruling Chinese Communist Party ruled out such a move in 2014, sparking the 79-day Occupy Central movement.

Some chanted: "Genuine Universal Suffrage! Withdraw the Evil Law!" while others held up placards calling on chief executive Carrie Lam to to resign following weeks of mass protests at her plans to allow the rendition of alleged criminal suspects to mainland China.

Lam last month announced the plans would be shelved indefinitely, butstopped short of withdrawing them entirely, prompting fears that Beijing will insist the government try again when protests have died down.



Protesters gather below a smashed window at the government headquarters in Hong Kong, July 1, 2019, the 22nd anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China. AFP




Public anger intensifying

Marchers, who included people of all age groups including families with children, took up six lanes along the main route, in a turnout that appeared similar to video footage of the million-strong anti-extradition march ofJune 9.

Jimmy Sham, convenor of march organizers the Civil Human Rights Front,said the protesters' demands remain the same: to fully withdraw theamendments instead of merely postponing them; to order a public inquiry into police violence against unarmed protesters on June 12; to drop official wording describing that day's protests as a riot, as well as dropping all charges against previously arrested protesters.

"Yes, we saw a lot of clashes and conflicts today," Sham said, prior to the storming of the legislature. "What we are witnessing is public anger that is getting more and more intense."

A marcher surnamed Wong said she witnessed the protesters smashing theglass doors of LegCo.

"About half of the glass doors were smashed; there were so many peoplehere," Wong said. "The numbers were about the same as on the million-strong march [of June 9]."

And a marcher surnamed Woo said that the majority on the peacefuldemonstration wouldn't have agreed with the storming of LegCo.

"I think that this was just a small minority of Hong Kong people who would want to do such a thing," Woo said. "We should pursue those responsible ... but that the same time, what are we going to do to protect demonstrators from police violence?"

"The June 12 protesters were hit with so many tear gas canisters ... I think both sides should stop now," he said. "We need an independent inquiry with senior judges that will give the opportunity to rebuild mutual trust."

Protesters outside LegCo called on marchers to join the siege of thebuilding as the march--which began at Victoria Park at 2.00 p.m. local time--continued to file into the area, lit by smartphone flashlights, long after nightfall.

Others occupied Harcourt Road, a major highway running past thegovernment and legislative compound, closing it to traffic.


Deliberate ploy by the authorities?


Live video streams from the scene showed police in full riot gear waiting inside the LegCo building, as protesters clad in yellow construction helmets and wielding umbrellas gathered outside to cheer on protesters who took turns to smash holes in the building using metal traffic barriers and aluminium cladding removed from the building over several hours.

Police inside the building raised a red warning flag, which sometimesprecedes the firing of tear gas and rubber bullets, but no tear gas was fired and protesters met with no resistance when they finally entered the building.

Labour Party lawmaker Fernando Cheung said the move had been adeliberate ploy by the authorities to ensure that shocking images of awrecked LegCo reached the world's media.

"This is a trap," Cheung, who was present at the time, told governmentbroadcaster RTHK. "The protesters this morning who were storming LegCocould have been dispersed easily by the police. They were not a largenumber, we're talking about probably a few hundred people. And those who were actually taking action were even smaller in number. And yet the police did not do anything."

"They wanted this to happen. They wanted the public to see this," Cheung said.

Earlier in the day, protesters had also removed the flag of the People's Republic of China from a ceremonial flagpole outside the city's exhibition center, replacing it with a blackened flag of Hong Kong flown at half-mast, as the city marked the 22nd anniversary of its return to Chinese rule, a day that was deliberately chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's founding in 1921.

Police had also been filmed beating some protesters with batons as they pushed towards the Convention and Exhibition Center, with social media posts showing photos of protesters with bleeding from head wounds, and amid reports of multiple calls for ambulances.

Rescue services said two police officers received hospital treatment after a chemical substance was reported at the entrance to LegCo at around 3.34 p.m., and that a hazardous materials team had identified the substance as P-phenylenediamine, which can cause itchy eyes, skin redness and swelling, and shortness of breath.

Inhalation of large amounts of the substance may also cause serious skin and respiratory tract burns, the statement said.

Chief executive Carrie Lam and Chinese dignitaries who usually attend aJuly 1 flag-raising ceremony marking the 1997 handover stayed away.



A protester defaces the Hong Kong emblem after protesters broke into the government headquarters in Hong Kong, July 1, 2019 Credit AFP





'Failed' Carrie Lam administration


The Hong Kong government said it "strongly condemns and deeply regretsthe extremely violent acts committed by some protesters who stormed the Legislative Council (LegCo) Complex this afternoon."

In a statement on its official website, it said protesters had used "a roll cage trolley as a ram and iron poles to shatter glass doors." Government headquarters will remain closed on Tuesday, according to a separate statement.

But the pro-democracy Civic Party said Lam should resign, adding that hers was a "failed" administration that should have listened to the demands of the protesters.

"Since June 9, the people of Hong Kong have made their demands very clear to the [Hong Kong] Special Administrative Region government in a number of different ways, which hid from them for days, holding private meetings with the Chinese Communist Party and the police, showing their contempt for public opinion," the party said in a statement on its Facebook page.

"[This] triggered the mass protests on July 1," it said. "Responsibility for the serious conflicts caused by public anger and the despair of the young people lies with Lam's administration, which has remained blinkered and insensitive, pushing Hong Kong to an unprecedented sociopolitical crisis."

The protest was the latest in a string of mass actions in recent weeks, amid growing anger over the extradition amendments, and the use of tear gas, rubber and textile bullets, pepper spray and batons by police on unarmed protesters on June 12.

The amendments are widely seen as a threat to Hong Kong's way of life,which was supposed to have been protected by the "one country, twosystems" framework under which the former British colony was handedback to China in 1997.

If they become law, the city could lose its status as a separate legaljurisdiction and trading entity, while journalists, visitors, rights activists, dissidents, democratic politicians, and members of the business community could be targeted for words and actions deemed illegal by Chinese authorities, and extradited to face trial in Chinese courts.

Pro-democracy lawmakers say the only solution to recurring mass protests in Hong Kong is for the government to allow fully democratic elections, a demand that was rejected by Beijing in 2014, sparking the Occupy Central, or Umbrella Movement.

Hong Kong's lawyers have also come out in support of protesters, saying that the extradition bill should be withdrawn completely, as opposed to the postponement offered by Carrie Lam last month.




https://www.rfa.org/english/news/chi...019085024.html

[harrybarracuda]

Carrie Lam needs to go, the fucking chinky stooge.

FREE HONG KONG!

[Cujo]

Carrie Lam needs to go, the fucking chinky stooge.

FREE HONG KONG!

Absofuckinglutely.
Horrible skank

[misskit]

Hong Kong police arrest 12 involved in pro-democracy protest

Police in Hong Kong said they have arrested 12 people who were involved in a pro-democracy protest that took place Monday morning ahead of the storming of the city's legislative building later in the day.


They face various charges including possession of offensive weapons, unlawful assembly, assaulting a police officer, obstructing a police officer and failing to carry an identity document, police said late Wednesday night.


Eleven men and one woman were arrested. The brief statement did not describe the offensive weapons or provide further details.


Pro-democracy protesters rushed police barricades around the time of a morning flag-raising ceremony marking the 22nd anniversary of the return of Hong Kong, a former British colony, to China on July 1, 1997. Police used shields, batons and pepper spray to drive them back.


That afternoon, protesters began what became an hours-long effort to break into the locked legislature building by smashing thick glass walls and prying open metal security curtains. A few hundred poured in around 9pm and spray-painted slogans on the walls and caused extensive damage.


On Wednesday, workers boarded up shattered windows and police carted away evidence during the start of what will be a massive cleanup and criminal investigation.



'Hong Kong is not China'


The government showed journalists the extent of the damage on a tour of the first two floors of the building.


At almost every turn, slogans had been spray-painted on the walls in Chinese and English. "Destroy the Chinese Communist Party," read one. "Hong Kong is not China" said another.


Papers, rubbish and umbrellas a protest symbol in Hong Kong used to ward off sun, rain and pepper spray were strewn in lobbies and rooms. Parts of wooden picture frames were all that remained of portraits of legislative leaders that hung on the wall.


In scenes that shocked people in Hong Kong and around the world, the protesters vented their anger and frustration in the legislature Monday at a government that hasn't responded to their demands. Once inside, they stood on the desks in the main chamber and climbed high to cover the city's official emblem with black spray paint.


Demonstrators also raised the colonial flag of British Hong Kong in the chamber.


The actions overshadowed a peaceful march by hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters elsewhere in the city.


No arrests have been announced for the storming of the legislature. Steve Vickers, a former head of criminal intelligence for the Royal Hong Kong Police, predicted a severe government crackdown that will result in long jail terms.


MORE https://uk.news.yahoo.com/hong-kong-...knQC6m-V7tenD7