Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators have descended on Hong Kong’s international airport, blocking roads and filling a bus terminus, in the latest wave of political unrest to hit the city. Less than 24 hours after protesters and police clashed in running battles on Saturday, demonstrators attempted to paralyse the airport
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Hong Kong: riot police pursue pro-democracy protesters from airport
Activists take over shopping complex and vandalise rail station after trying to choke city’s international hub
Thousands of demonstrators in Hong Kong have paralysed traffic and shut down transport links between the city and the airport during another day of protests demanding democratic freedoms in the semiautonomous Chinese territory.
On Sunday, demonstrators attempted to lay siege to the airport to draw global attention to the city that has been plunged into political crisis for the last three months.
Continue reading...Hong Kong: ‘Revolution is war, and no war is without bloodshed’
Anger is rising as the government crackdown intensifies, and protesters say they are prepared for confrontation and sacrifice
Ryan Lee, a 27-year-old computer engineer, only started taking part in Hong Kong’s demonstrations in June. Since then, it has been a steep learning curve.
He has tackled a police officer to the ground to rescue another protester, tossed teargas canisters back at the police and covered the gas grenades with the metal dishes commonly used in Hong Kong for steaming fish.
Continue reading...Hong Kong police seen beating protesters in clash at metro station – video
Clashes broke out between protesters and police at Hong Kong's Prince Edward station on Saturday in the 13th consecutive weekend of anti-government and anti-police demonstrations. Police were seen hitting passengers with their batons, spraying pepper spray and pointing rubber pellet guns toward demonstrators on the subway. A number of protesters were arrested and escorted off the station platform by police.
Continue reading...Fire, teargas and water cannon on Hong Kong streets in latest protests – video report
Protesters in Hong Kong set fire to piles of barriers and debris on Saturday on the city's 13th straight weekend of mass protests. Earlier, police fired teargas and water cannon at the protesters outside the government headquarters after some threw objects and petrol bombs at them.
Continue reading...Hong Kong protests: riot police storm metro station with batons
Unrest deepens on anniversary of Beijing’s move to limit democratic reforms in territory
Hong Kong riot police have stormed a metro station, using batons to beat passengers as violent clashes deepened political unrest in the city for the 13th weekend in a row.
Lai, 31, returning home from protests, was in a train car that pulled into the Prince Edward mass transit railway stop in Kowloon just before 11pm on Saturday night. He saw at least 20 police officers on the station platform when suddenly five or six ran into his carriage.
Continue reading...‘We shall not surrender,’ Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong says after release on bail – video
The Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong says he will not surrender after he was charged with organising an illegal protest on Friday. Wong, who led pro-democracy demonstrations five years ago, is the most prominent activist to be arrested since protests escalated in mid-June over fears China is exerting greater control over the territory. Police arrested several other activists and blocked plans for a mass demonstration on Saturday
Continue reading...Hong Kong protests: Joshua Wong and other pro-democracy figures arrested
Wong and fellow activist Agnes Chow subsequently released
Several prominent pro-democracy figures have been arrested in Hong Kong in an apparent crackdown on protests that have plunged the city into its worst political crisis in decades.
The democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow, former student leaders of pro-democracy protests in 2014, were arrested on Friday and Andy Chan, the head of a now banned pro-independence party, was detained by police on Thursday. Wong and Chow were charged with offences including taking part in an unlawful assembly on 21 June 21 at Hong Kong police headquarters and released.
Continue reading...Hong Kong’s ‘be water’ protests leave China casting about for an enemy
Beijing’s worldview cannot conceive of a leaderless movement: there have to be saboteurs behind it
On Friday morning, as Hong Kong woke up, the news came in as thick as the incessant rain: Andy Chan Ho-tin, the head of the outlawed Hong Kong National party, was arrested overnight at the airport as he was about to go to Japan.
Then came the news of Joshua Wong’s arrest – one of the most famous pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. Wong’s name became known in 2012 when, at 15, he organised the protests against the national education curriculum. The curriculum was seen as an attempt at instilling patriotism in Hong Kong’s youth, but described as “brainwashing” by Wong and his supporters. He was one of the leaders of the Umbrella Movement, in 2014 – for which he served time in jail, and is still facing a number of charges. Among the Umbrella Movement’s leaders was Agnes Chow: she, too, was arrested on Friday. Wong and Chow are the co-founders of the political party Demosisto, which, like Chan’s Hong Kong National party, is one of the organisations that emerged from the Umbrella Movement.
Continue reading...Political uncertainty puts London listing for Saudi Aramco in doubt
Decision to rule out UK and Hong Kong would be major blow to both financial centres
Saudi Arabia’s revived plans for a $2tn mega-listing of its state oil company may rule out the London Stock Exchange amid Britain’s rising political uncertainty, according to reports.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s most profitable company, may instead look to Japan’s Tokyo stock exchange to host the second phase of what would be the biggest public offering in history.
Continue reading...Chinese troop movement into Hong Kong prompts unease
Movements, which have been portrayed as a scheduled troop rotation, come days ahead of anti-government protests
Chinese military vehicles have been seen moving across the border into Hong Kong, in what the military said were regular troop movements, as fears rose that the city could see a Beijing-led crackdown after months of political unrest.
Following witness reports of the movements in the early hours of Thursday, state-run news agency Xinhua released a report that the Hong Kong Garrison of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was making a scheduled rotation and that it was an “annual normal routine”.
Continue reading...‘A nuclear option’: Hong Kong and the threat of the emergency law
Analysts say use of draconian law that would allow censorship, arrest and deportation could push city into bigger crisis
The Hong Kong government’s hint that it may use a draconian law to quell its biggest crisis in decades has sparked widespread concern, with analysts saying it would plunge the city into a worse crisis.
The city’s leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday the government will use existing laws to “put a stop to violence and chaos”, after the pro-Beijing newspaper Sing Tao Daily said the government was considering invoking the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, a colonial era law with sweeping powers that was last used in 1967, to put an end to the current political crisis.
Continue reading...The Hong Kong Way protest shows enchantment is a powerful weapon | Antony Dapiran
Peaceful protests like this human chain help to counteract the violence and cynicism shrouding the city
It almost felt like magic. A few people standing on the street were joined by a few more; people lining the footpath of one block connected to those on the next block. And suddenly, there they all were. Hand in hand, chanting slogans and singing songs. On 23 August, the 30th anniversary of the Baltic Way – a human chain linking the capitals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to demand the Baltic republics’ independence from the Soviet Union – more than 200,000 people came out on to the streets of Hong Kong to form the “Hong Kong Way”. From the crowded streets of Wan Chai on Hong Kong island, to the famous waterfront of Tsim Sha Tsui, to the suburbs of the New Territories, to the peak of Lion Rock, people linked hands in a continuous human chain that some said measured 60km in total.
This was just the latest action in Hong Kong’s ongoing anti-government protest movement calling for democratic reforms. As a protest action, it was incredibly effective: entirely peaceful, a striking visual spectacle, and a very physical manifestation of the broad support for the movement from across the community. People of all ages and from all walks of life, families with young children, the elderly – all joined the chain and put paid to any suggestion that these ongoing protests were just a few hot-headed young student agitators. But perhaps most importantly, the Hong Kong Way created a moment of enchantment.
Continue reading...Hong Kong: anti-surveillance protesters tear down ‘smart’ lamp-post – video
Activists targeted several 'smart' lamp-posts equipped with sensors, cameras and data networks in anti-surveillance protests over the weekend. Protesters, many of whom disguised their identities with masks and umbrellas, fear the devices can be used by China to collect personal information. Authorities insist the lamp-posts only collect air quality, traffic and weather data
Continue reading...Hong Kong protests: dozens arrested as government warns of ‘very dangerous situation’
Twelve-year-old among those detained after violent clashes that involved the police using water cannon and firing a warning shot
Dozens of people, including a 12-year-old, have been arrested after a night of escalating violence in Hong Kong that saw police fire a warning shot near protesters and use water cannon for the first time.
Police said they arrested 29 men and seven women, aged 12 to 48, for offences including unlawful assembly, possession of offensive weapons and assaulting police officers.
Continue reading...Police draw guns and deploy water cannon in clashes with Hong Kong protesters – video
Hong Kong riot police fire warning shots and use water cannon for the first time since protests began in June to break through barricades and disperse crowds. The escalation in tensions came on the second consecutive day of violence, after clashes the night before during which police arrested 29 people
Continue reading...More Hongkongers look to move to Australia amid growing political unrest
Migration agent says housing and other economic factors are also driving residents to consider moving
Hong Kong’s continuing political unrest has led to a surge in applications from residents seeking to emigrate, including to Australia, and some migration agents are reporting a doubling in inquiries as the protests run into their third month.
Australia was the top destination for Hong Kong emigrants in 2018 – nearly a third (2,400) of the 7,600 Hongkongers who left last year went to Australia.
Continue reading...Hong Kong protests: police use water cannon on demonstrators
Hundreds of thousands had braved rain to stage peaceful march in triad-linked district
Hong Kong police have fired teargas and for the first time used a water cannon to disperse protesters as a weekend of violent clashes dashed hopes of a return to peace after a week of relative calm.
Hundreds of thousands of people had earlier braved rain on Sunday to stage a peaceful, police-sanctioned march in Tsuen Wan, an area of the city noted for its links with triad gangsters, after clashes on Saturday when police fired rounds of teargas, rubber bullets, pepper balls and sponge rounds at protesters.
Continue reading...Teargas and traffic cones fly as Hong Kong police clash with protesters – video
Riot police have deployed teargas and batons against thousands of protesters rallying against government surveillance, includin lamp posts equipped with sensors. Hundreds of officers charged at protesters, beating them as they fled.
Continue reading...Hong Kong riot police beat protesters at anti-surveillance rally
Teargas thrown at masked demonstrators angry over lamp posts equipped with CCTV
Hong Kong riot police have fired rounds of teargas, rubber bullets, pepper balls and sponge rounds, and beaten people, as protesters led them on a game of cat-and-mouse across the city. The actions took place after a peaceful afternoon march into a confrontation and split into several impromptu marches in different locations.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators took part in an anti-government rally in the Kwun Tong district in Kowloon on Saturday, marking the city’s 12th week of protests. The peaceful march, sanctioned by police, turned into a tense standoff between riot police and protesters by mid-afternoon after demonstrators built barricades with bamboo rods and plastic traffic barriers outside a police station.
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