{"id":192692,"date":"2019-08-05T07:38:41","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T07:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=192692"},"modified":"2019-08-07T05:53:31","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T05:53:31","slug":"hong-kong-brought-to-a-standstill-as-city-wide-strikes-and-protests-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=192692","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong brought to a standstill as city-wide strikes and protests hit"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Lily Kuo in Hong Kong and Kate Lyons \u2013 The Guardian Aug 5, 2019<\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Hong Kong\u2019s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, has warned that mass protests have pushed the region to the brink of a \u201cvery dangerous situation\u201d as residents have gone on strike, paralysing the city.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Lam, who has disappeared from public view for the past two weeks, gave a media briefing in which she condemned the protests for hurting Hong Kong\u2019s economy and stability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u201cSuch extensive disruptions in the name of certain demands or uncooperative movement have seriously undermined <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/hong-kong\" data-link-name=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Hong Kong<\/a> law and order and are pushing our city, the city we all love, and many of us helped to build, to the verge of a very dangerous situation,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">On Monday, transport across Hong Kong was brought to a standstill and more than 150 flights out of the city were cancelled. Almost 100 outbound and 100 inbound flights were cancelled. Protesters also blocked key roads and stopped trains throughout the city.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">As the city enters its ninth consecutive week of mass protests, tensions have escalated. In Yuen Long, the site of a violent attack on commuters on 21 July, a car rammed through a barricade set up by protesters, narrowly missing people trying to hold back the barrier, and injuring one person.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Witnesses said that around 10am a car tried to drive through a roadblock set by protesters near the Yoho Mall in Yuen Long. Protesters surrounded the car, holding up umbrellas and forcing the driver out of the vehicle. Some began to deface the car and fought with the driver before others at the scene stopped the fighting.<\/span><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Jhwq-Yjd3Ag\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n&#8212;<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The driver got back in his car and protesters tried to push against the vehicle to prevent him from leaving. \u201cThe driver ignored them and continued to accelerate. The tyres emitted a lot of white smoke. The vehicle broke through the barrier and knocked down one person and then he left the scene,\u201d said Derek Man, who was on the road at the time, with the protesters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Another witness, Chun Ming Lam, 25, a resident of Yuen Long, said he was on his way to work and standing on a footbridge over the road when he saw the incident. When he saw the car break through the barrier, protesters began yelling \u201cfirst aid, first aid!\u201d and he ran down to the scene where one person was propped up against the barrier. A car arrived later to take the man to a hospital, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Lam who witnessed the attacks on 21 July, when dozens of masked men beat commuters with wooden and iron rods. \u201cIt was quite scary but I also witnessed the 7\/21 incident and others in Yuen Long. It\u2019s not so scary when comparing with that,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Protesters have shifted tactics beyond only marches and protests in the streets. Civil servants from more than 30 government departments, as well as pilots, teachers, construction workers, engineers, and aviation staff all pledged to strike on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">On Monday morning, several lines of the MTR, the rail network serving Hong Kong, were suspended as protesters, many wearing face masks and black clothing, blocked the doors of trains, preventing them departing the stations. There were also reports of discarded umbrellas being wedged in train doors to prevent them from closing, delaying services.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Monday\u2019s planned city-wide protest, which is aimed to disrupt peak-hour travel of commuters, is the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2019\/aug\/04\/hong-kong-protesters-return-streets-day-after-violent-clashes\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">fifth consecutive day of mass demonstrations<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>in the city. Simultaneous rallies were planned for seven of Hong Kong\u2019s 18 districts on Monday. Hong Kong has not held a general strike in more than 50 years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Faith Tang, 30, a teacher at a language school, said the principal had closed the centre that day because so many teachers and administrative staff had stayed home. Tang said she joined the strike in order to force the government to respond to the protesters\u2019 demands, which includes a complete withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">She added that she joined the strike, \u201cto stand with my fellow Hongkongers, to show support for our relentless fight for freedom and justice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Commuters going to work said they were supportive of the strike, even if they themselves could not participate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u201cThis is a last resort,\u201d said Cindy Chan, waiting in a long bus line after her local train line suffered severe delays. Chan works in utilities and said she was unable to take off from work. \u201cThe government doesn\u2019t listen to the opinions of the people and later you can see it\u2019s getting worse and worse,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The city-wide protests began over an extradition bill to send suspects to <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/china\" data-link-name=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">China<\/a>, but have turned into a broader political movement for the semi-autonomous city, with residents demanding the protection of freedoms for Hong Kongers and accountability from the Hong Kong government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Flanked by members of her government, Lam said she had already responded to the protesters demands. \u201cSome people may not agree with our response\u2026 but we have considered every factor. What is in front of us is Hong Kong\u2019s stability and future and escalated violence,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Protesters say police are deploying harsher tactics against them and trying to arrest more demonstrators. On Sunday night and the early hours of Monday, police clashed with protesters and residents in various locations, after <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2019\/aug\/04\/hong-kong-protesters-return-streets-day-after-violent-clashes\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">protesters evaded and frustrated the police by holding flashmob demonstrations<\/a><\/strong><\/span> throughout the city. Police have arrested more than 60 people and charged 44 of them with rioting, a crime that could mean up to 10 years in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">On Monday, protesters braced for clashes with police as they continued to stage disruptions across the city. \u201cWhen Hong Kong people are going to the march, we know there\u2019s a risk,\u201d said one protester, Lam, who joined the strike on Monday. \u201cOur tactic is \u2018be water,\u2019 and we don\u2019t really know what exactly we are going to do next, as things change rapidly every day. We just do whatever we can and see how things go.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The former British colony, which reverted to Chinese control in 1997, is meant to enjoy a \u201chigh degree\u201d of autonomy from the mainland as part of the \u201cone country, two systems\u201d framework, but residents say their freedoms are slowly disappearing under China\u2019s influence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">On Sunday, people blocked Hong Kong\u2019s cross-harbour tunnel and another group of protesters surrounded a police station in the outer district of Kwun Tong, where they shined lasers at the police and threw bricks at the compound. Earlier in the day, after a peaceful rally in Tseung Kwan O in Hong Kong\u2019s New Territories, protesters broke the windows of a police station, using a makeshift catapult to launch objects at the building.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">At Lai King station, dozens of young people in black and masks have been blocking the trains to central and HK since 7:30am. Some passengers blamed them for stopping them for work. A middle aged man in blue pushed a protestor off the train which caused chaos <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/antiELAB?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#antiELAB<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/h7QmTRyySv\">pic.twitter.com\/h7QmTRyySv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Karen Zhang (@karenised) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/karenised\/status\/1158168860412956673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 5, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">As fears rise that Beijing may intervene and quash the unrest, Hong Kongers have been watching Chinese state media carefully. On Sunday, Xinhua, a state-run news agency, published several articles condemning protesters, including one saying: \u201cThe central government will not sit idly by and let this situation continue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2019\/aug\/05\/hong-kong-brought-to-a-standstill-as-city-wide-strikes-and-protests-hit\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hong Kong enters its ninth consecutive week of protest as fears mount that Beijing may intervene directly<\/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-192692","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\/192692","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=192692"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192696,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192692\/revisions\/192696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=192692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=192692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=192692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}