{"id":191205,"date":"2019-07-08T07:44:14","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T07:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=191205"},"modified":"2019-07-10T04:58:51","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T04:58:51","slug":"conflict-breaks-out-in-hong-kong-after-latest-extradition-bill-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=191205","title":{"rendered":"Conflict breaks out in Hong Kong after latest extradition bill protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Werner Yu in Hong Kong \u2013 The Guardian July 8, 2019<\/h1>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Protesters wave anti extradition placards. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Conflict has broken out between hundreds of protesters and police in riot gear in Hong Kong<\/a> after tens of thousands of protesters marched peacefully earlier in the day to keep up the pressure on the government to withdraw its controversial extradition bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

The march, which continued late into the night, was the first since the storming and vandalising of Hong Kong\u2019s legislature by protesters last Monday, a move that drew strong condemnation from the Chinese and Hong Kong governments. The extradition bill \u2013 which would allow suspects to be removed from the semi-autonomous city to face China\u2019s flawed justice system \u2013 has been the subject of several mass rallies over the past month.<\/span><\/p>\n

The demonstration descended into chaos shortly before 11pm local time on Sunday with most protesters retreating and yelling \u201cLeave now! Leave now!\u201d as police in riot gear began to advance towards them. Police used truncheons to beat protesters, who were trapped as police advanced towards them in both directions, and pressed some of them on to the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

Six people were arrested, according to a statement from the police just after 3am Monday morning. One protester was detained for \u201cfailing to produce proof of identity\u201d and the five others were arrested for assaulting a police officer or obstructing the police.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPolice respect the public\u2019s freedoms of expression, speech and assembly. It is the policy of the police to facilitate all peaceful public events while at the same time ensuring public safety and public order. Police strongly condemn the illegal acts of protesters for blocking the roads,\u201d the statement said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The atmosphere had turned tense earlier, with protesters who armed themselves with umbrellas and police in riot gear locked in a stand-off in the commercial district of Mongkok.<\/span><\/p>\n

The march \u2013 which had been given official permission by the police \u2013 started around 3.30pm local time at a park by the harbour front at Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon peninsula, an area popular with tourists. Organisers estimated as many as 230,000 participated in the march, more than was expected. Police said only 56,000 attended.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although it officially ended by early evening, when most of the crowds dispersed after reaching the West Kowloon railway terminus, where high-speed trains link Hong Kong with Chinese cities, protesters began to fill the commercial area in Tsim Sha Tsui in the evening.<\/span><\/p>\n

Late into the evening, protesters continued to march down Nathan Road, the main thoroughfare in Kowloon, occupying half a street. They chanted slogans as they marched northwards, passing Yau Ma Tei and heading towards Mong Kok. After reaching Mongkok, police in riot gear formed into a line to stop protesters from advancing and demanded that they left.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCruel police! Cruel police!\u201d chanted protesters, wearing goggles, masks and holding up umbrellas to shield themselves in case police shot tear gas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather sit at home enjoying air-conditioning in this hot weather, but it is the government who forced us to keep protesting,\u201d said a young man who declined to be identified.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Hong Kong\u2019s leader Carrie Lam has offered to meet university student representatives behind closed doors, he said she had showed no sign of giving in to any of the protesters\u2019 political demands and he was tired of Lam \u201csounding like a broken record\u201d in her reiteration of her position.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u2019s leader, Carrie Lam, has apologised for the crisis, but protesters have demanded that the government fully withdraw the bill and release all those arrested in previous protests.<\/span><\/p>\n

They also want the government to launch an independent investigation into the police\u2019s use of force on 12 June, when teargas, rubber bullets and truncheons were used on largely peaceful crowds. Protesters also called on the government to implement universal suffrage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want genuine universal suffrage!\u201d, \u201cFree Hong Kong!\u201d, \u201cHong Kongers, go for it!\u201d, and \u201cRetract the bill!\u201d, chanted the spirited and noisy crowds to the rhythms of occasional drum beats earlier in the day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some held up yellow banners and umbrellas to call for universal suffrage. Several waved giant colonial-era flags \u2013 which include the British union flag \u2013 while others and blue flags emblazoned with \u201cHong Kong Independence\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Umbrellas were the symbol of the last major set of protests in Hong Kong, the 79-day Umbrella Movement in 2014, which demanded an unfettered vote for ordinary citizens after China<\/a> ruled that all candidates for Hong Kong\u2019s top leadership job must receive over half of the votes from a largely pro-Beijing nominating committee of 1,200 members, which would select two or three candidates, before going before voters. The civil disobedience movement failed to press Beijing to grant genuine universal suffrage and this has become a source of political tension ever since.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am here to support the young people. It is our fault that we hadn\u2019t spoken out earlier to fight for more freedoms so the task is upon the young now. And they\u2019re so desperate and despondent,\u201d said 68-year-old Mary, who did not wish to give her last name, referring to last Monday\u2019s storming of the legislature building.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u2019s authorities appeared nervous that Sunday\u2019s march might turn violent. Police erected giant water-filled barricades outside the West Kowloon railway terminus and closed many entrances to stop protesters from getting in. They also closed and diverted several roads in the area for the protest. The railway company suspended sales of tickets for high-speed trains to and from the terminus on Sunday afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emotions have been running high in Hong Kong over the past month during its biggest political crisis in decades. Millions of people have thronged the streets to protest against a proposed law allowing for the extradition of individuals to mainland China, where courts are controlled by the Communist party.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tensions erupted last Monday, the anniversary of Hong Kong\u2019s 1997 return from British to Chinese rule, when hundreds of angry protesters stormed and vandalised the legislature. Police fired teargas after midnight to disperse them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Protesters on Sunday said even though police had started arresting people involved in earlier protests, it would not dampen their resolve. \u201cWe will keep coming out until the government respond to us. If they keep ignoring us, people can only escalate their fight,\u201d said a young woman who gave her name as Mimi.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe government doesn\u2019t give a damn about us \u2013 protesting is our only hope,\u201d said Vivian Li, a mother of two toddlers.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Widespread protests continue in Hong Kong over extradition legislation to mainland China <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china","category-Current_Affairs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=191205"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191208,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191205\/revisions\/191208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=191205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=191205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=191205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}