Hong Kong. – Hong Kong police fired tear gas and a water cannon at protesters in a popular commercial district on Sunday, as thousands took to the streets to march against China’s proposed national security legislation for the city.
Protester is detained by riot police during demonstration against Beijing/AP national security legislation
Proponents of democracy in Hong Kong harshly criticized the proposal last week to enact a national security law that would prohibit secessionist and subversive activity, as well as foreign interference, in semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Critics say it goes against the framework of “one country, two systems” that promises the freedoms of the city that are not in mainland China. Crowds of black-clad demonstrators gathered Sunday afternoon in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay district to protest the proposed legislation. The protesters chanted slogans that included “Supporting Hong Kong,” “Free Hong Kong” and “Revolution of Our Times.” The protest was the continuation of a month-long pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong that began last year and has sometimes turned into violence between police and demonstrators.
Police raised blue flags, warning protesters to disperse, before firing multiple rounds of tear gas. They later fired a water cannon at the protesters. At least 120 people were arrested, most of them accused of illegal assembly, police said in a Facebook post.Also said in a separate post that protesters threw bricks and splashed unidentified liquid to officers, injuring at least four members of the police media liaison team. They warned that such behaviour is illegal and that the police will continue the matter. In the early afternoon, prominent activist Tam Tak-chi was arrested during the protest for what police said was an unauthorized meeting. Tam said he was giving a “health talk” and was exempt from social estrangement measures that prohibit meetings of more than eight people. The bill that triggered Sunday’s demonstration was presented at China’s national legislative session on Friday and is expected to be passed on May 28. It would bypass the Hong Kong legislature and allow the city government to establish continental agencies in the city that would allow Chinese agents to arbitrarily arrest people for activities considered pro-democracy.
Riot police cover up with shields as hundreds of demonstrators march along a downtown street during a protest/AP
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the measure “a death sentence for the high degree of autonomy” Beijing promised to the former British colony when it was returned to China in 1997.La erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms led Chris Patten, Hong Kong’s last British governor before his surrender to China, to condemn what he called “a new Chinese dictatorship.” You may also be interested:Coronavirus has already killed more than 339,000 people worldwideMose at 84 years old crocodile that survived World War II
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