Police in riot gear beat protesters as demonstration continued into late evening
Conflict has broken out between hundreds of protesters and police in riot gear in Hong Kong 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.
Related: Hong Kong youth vow to fight on as China gets tough on protest
Continue reading...This week protesters in Hong Kong stormed the legislative council building and vandalised its main chamber on the anniversary of the island's 1997 return to Chinese rule. The demonstrations appeared meticulously organised, with protesters forming human chains leading to supply depots with tools such as pliers, scissors, zip ties, hard hats and the like. Watch the video to see the supply chains in action
Video courtesy of Antony Dapiran, author of City of Protest: A Recent History of Dissent in Hong Kong, via Twitter @antd
City appears divided on whether protesters went too far with Tuesday night’s occupation of the legislature
As Hong Kong woke up after a night of unprecedented drama, the city was divided on whether protesters who stormed and vandalised the city’s legislature had gone too far in their quest to make their voices heard. Anti-government and anti-police graffiti still adorned pillars and walls as police stood guard while legislators attempted to go about their day.
Two main narratives were emerging after the ransacking of the legislature: one that spoke of hopelessness in the face of semi-authoritarian rule, and another that condemned the destruction of property.
Pro-democracy figures placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of leader Carrie Lam, saying a government that only listens to a pro-Beijing party had driven young people to desperation.
“The protesters who broke into the Legislative Council complex were not rioters. They were not violent,” said activist Joshua Wong, jailed for two months after the 2014 umbrella protests. “They wanted to make the regime hear Hong Kongers’ voice, and they had no other option.
“Perhaps not all of you will agree with every single action they took yesterday. But what are a few pieces of glass worth in comparison to the deaths of three young men and women? What are a few portraits worth in comparison to the very survival of Hong Kong as a place?”
China regards the violent actions of some protesters in Hong Kong as an 'undisguised challenge' to the 'one country, two systems' formula under which the city is ruled, state television reported on Tuesday. A representative of China's Hong Kong affairs office condemned the violence of some protesters, who are angered by a proposed extradition bill, and said Beijing supported the Hong Kong government in holding violent criminals responsible, the report said
Hong Kong's Legislative Council will remain closed on Tuesday after protesters stormed the building to protest against an extradition bill in a direct challenge to Beijing. Footage from inside the building after police used teargas to disperse the protesters shows the extent of the damage. Wearing hard hats, masks and black shirts, the protesters used a metal trolley, poles and scaffolding to charge again and again at the compound's reinforced glass doors on Monday, which eventually gave way. Scores of them poured into the building
Continue reading...Beijing’s liaison office says storming of parliament is ‘an extreme challenge’ to the rule of law
The Chinese government has issued a strong condemnation of protesters who stormed and vandalised the Hong Kong’s legislature late on Monday, calling the act “totally intolerable”.
In a statement carried by the state-run Xinhua news agency, the Chinese government’s liaison office in Hong Kong, its top representative organisation in the city, said it was “shocked, indignant and strongly condemned” the siege of the parliament building, which followed a day of protests against a controversial extradition bill late on Monday.
Continue reading...Police rush at protesters after Legislative Council building was stormed on anniversary of 1997 transition
We’re going to end our live coverage now, thanks for reading. Here’s the Guardian’s main news story on today’s events, from Christy Choi and Verna Yu in Hong Kong.
Related: Hong Kong police fire teargas and charge at protesters
Police stopped a public bus following the demonstration outside the Legco building, Verna Yu says, reportedly searching for protesters.
They stopped the bus around 1.15am and checked all the passengers. Police scrutinized their ID cards, ordered passengers to remove their masks, and at 1.45am were still searching people. Passengers were made to stand on one side of the bus while the police searched others.
Continue reading...Officers move to disperse crowds after breakaway group stormed parliament building
Hong Kong police have fired teargas at demonstrators and moved to disperse crowds after protesters stormed the legislative council building and raised the territory’s former colonial flag on the 22nd anniversary of its handover to China.
The dramatic scenes came after a peaceful march of half a million people made its way through other parts of the city as its deepest political crisis in two decades showed no sign of abating. For the past month protesters have been demanding the withdrawal of a bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland as anger has grown against Hong Kong authorities and the territory’s chief executive, Carrie Lam.
Continue reading...Hundreds of protesters have stormed the Hong Kong government building on the anniversary of the city's 1997 return to China, destroying pictures and painting walls with graffiti. More than 1 million people have taken to the streets in protest against planned legislation that would permit extraditions to China
Continue reading...The scale of unrest may force the Chinese president to get involved. How will he respond?
The escalating protests in Hong Kong pose a personal challenge to the autocratic rule of Xi Jinping, whose implacable domination of Chinese public life since 2012 has drawn comparisons with Mao Zedong.
Related: Hong Kong protesters attempt to storm government headquarters – live
Continue reading...Demonstrators have attempted to storm the legislative building using a metal trolley and poles on the 22nd anniversary of the territory's return to Chinese rule. More than 1 million people have taken to the streets in protest against planned legislation that would permit extraditions to China
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That’s all for today – thanks for reading, everyone. Here’s what happened:
And, before we close down for the evening, a quick look at festivities in Seattle, which also hosted a Pride parade today.
Continue reading...Security forces block roads and fire teargas in Khartoum in first protests since army crackdown
Seven people have died and nearly 200 have been wounded during huge demonstrations in Sudan, the first large-scale protests since a crackdown on a camp early in June left at least 128 people dead.
Tens of thousands took part in protests across the country. In Khartoum, the capital, protesters demanded that the ruling transitional military council (TMC) hand over power to civilians, as security forces fired teargas at them.
Continue reading...New York’s massive LGBTQ Pride march kicked off Sunday with attendees cheering the cast of Pose, the FX show about late-20th century ballroom culture, and a car representing the activists Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson as the procession moved through Manhattan.
Related: We've been to a marvelous party: when gay Harlem met queer Britain
Continue reading...Pro- and anti-government demonstrators rally, with mass protest planned on Monday
Thousands of pro-government protesters have rallied outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong as tensions rose on the eve of what is expected to be Hong Kong’s fourth mass protest in a month against a controversial extradition law.
While top officials attend a ceremony on 1 July every year to mark the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover of sovereignty from the UK to China, a large anti-government protest also takes place on the same day.
Continue reading...Fifty years after Stonewall, photographs Kay Tobin Lahusen and Diana Davies pin the zeitgeist to the page
Forty-nine years ago, on the first anniversary of the riots outside the Stonewall Inn, thousands of “young men and women homosexuals” from all over the north-east marched from Greenwich Village to the Sheep Meadow in Central Park. As Lacey Fosburgh put it on the front page of the New York Times, they proclaimed “the new strength and pride of the gay people”.
Related: We've been to a marvelous party: when gay Harlem met queer Britain
Continue reading...A group of Muslim women and other activists in France have protested against a local ban on the burkini by going into a public pool wearing the full-body swimwear. The women went to the pools twice at the initiative of the Alliance Citoyenne rights group
Continue reading...Let’s put it in plain words: the people of Hong Kong haven’t defeated the proposed extradition law to China yet – we have only earned a small window to catch our breath. And so have the hardliners in the administration and the Chinese government.
Related: Hong Kong protesters hold noisy rally outside police headquarters
Continue reading...Millions of people have taken to the streets over the past three weeks in opposition to an extradition law. The Guardian correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison discusses covering the demonstrations and what could happen next. Plus: Angie Zelter on why she doesn’t regret being arrested at an Extinction Rebellion protest
Hong Kong has been rocked by its biggest political crisis in decades, with millions of people taking to the streets in central business districts to protest against a proposed law that would allow the extradition of suspects to mainland China, where the court system has a conviction rate as high as 99%.
The chief executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, eventually suspended the bill and apologised. Emma Graham-Harrison, who has been reporting from the special administrative region, tells India Rakusen about the murder case that prompted the extradition legislation and why those in Hong Kong fear Beijing is attempting to erode their democracy.
Continue reading...About a thousand people wearing masks and hats build barricades and obscure cameras with umbrellas
About a thousand people have held a noisy rally outside the police headquarters in downtown Hong Kong, calling for the release of protesters arrested during this month’s wave of political unrest, following a peaceful demonstration earlier on Wednesday.
The protesters, mostly dressed in black and many covering their faces with masks and wearing hard hats, occupied the streets around the police headquarters in Wan Chai after 10pm and chanted loudly “Shame on you” and “Release the righteous fighters” to the beating of drums.
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