2019 Hong Kong Protests (August 1st
through 10th)
1 and 2 August Rallies
Financial
sector
On the night of 1 August, hundreds of
staff from about 80 different financial institutions participated in a flash
mob rally at Chater Garden in Admiralty. Protesters were also concerned about
incidents of alleged police collusion with triad gangsters and demanded respect
for rule of law. At least 700 financial sector workers have posted images of
staff cards in support of the upcoming 5 August city-wide general strike. The organiser stated 4,300 attended the flash-mob.
Medical
sector
On the evening of 2 August, medical
professionals held a rally at Edinburgh Place, Central. President of the Hong
Kong Public Doctors' Association spoke critically of arrests being made inside
hospitals while people are seeking treatment, and also spoke out about
excessive use of tear gas by police against democracy activists. Organisers
estimated 10,000 medical professionals attended the rally.
This was the third medical sector protest
in a week. About 1,500 health care specialists had previously assembled at
Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei to raise concerns about the coordinated
attacks of 21 July that occurred in Yuen Long MTR station. Medical students and
graduates also held an assembly in the Chinese University of Hong Kong on July
26. About 1000 people joined the assembly according to the organisers.
Civil
servants
Shortly after the medical sector rally
began at Edinburgh Place, another rally had also started in Chater Garden held
by thousands of civil servants. By 6:45 pm the park was already overflowing
with people, prompting police to close nearby Chater Road to traffic. Former
chief secretary Anson Chan and former Secretary for the Civil Service Joseph
Wong both urged an independent inquiry into police misconduct and defended
freedom of expression, questioning the validity of Chief Secretary Matthew
Cheung's warning about the risks of joining the rally and "breaching the
principle of political neutrality." Wong stated, "The first line [of
the civil service code], which I wrote, is to safeguard the rule of law. Rule
of law is higher than our loyalty to any official, any chief executive. No one
is above it."
Musician and activist Denise Ho also
spoke at the rally, and encouraged broad participation at the upcoming 5 August
general strike. Ho said that there was safety in numbers, and that the
government is more likely to respond to continuous pressure and indefinite
strike actions. While police estimated attendance of 13,000, the organiser
claimed 40,000 civil servants participated at the rally.
3 August Protests
A planned and approved march started
from Anchor Street Playground at 3:30pm. Protesters in the front of the rally
held a banner that read "Police have too much power" (Chinese: 警權過大); a popular
slogan for the day was "Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our
time". Marchers urged people to join in the general strike on 5 August.
The front of the rally arrived at Cherry Street park at 5 pm, but some
protesters did not follow the designated route, and headed directly to Mong Kok
and Tsim Sha Tsui instead; other protesters first arrived at the park and then
followed on to Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui.
At around 6:30 pm, a flash mob moved
barricades into the toll plaza of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel in Hung Hom, blocking
vehicles and then disappeared. Around 9:30 pm, riot police fired tear gas on
protesters in both Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok. Several arrests were made.[290]
A small group of protesters also removed the Chinese flag near the Star Ferry
pier in Tsim Sha Tsui and threw it into Victoria Harbour.
After having received multiple shots of
tear gas, protesters moved to the police station at Wong Tai Sin, then left via
MTR. Riot police followed and arrested several alleged protesters in the Wong
Tai Sin Station. However, the presence of riot police officers angered nearby
residents, who requested police to release those arrested and leave the
district. They threw umbrellas and set off fire extinguishers. Shortly after,
police officers fired tear gas at residents to disperse the crowd, which then
went to protest at the nearby police station and Disciplined Services quarters.
Dormitory residents showered residents and protesters with sticks, glass
bottles and firecrackers from the building. After multiple shots of tear gas,
protesters retreated and occupied Lung Cheung Road, then dispersed after.
At the same time, multiple protesters
surrounded Mong Kok Police Station. Riot police also arrived shortly and
arrested protesters. Some of those arrested claimed that they were only
passers-by or residents nearby, and not protesters. Two foreign nationals, a
Filipino and a South Korean, were arrested by authorities who suspects their
involvement in the protest. The Filipino was Hong Kong Disneyland employee who
was wearing black at the time of his arrest and the South Korean a restaurant
worker. This is believed to be the first arrests of expatriates since the
escalation of the protest in June.
4 August Protests
The demonstrations on 4 August began
with a permitted march in Tseung Kwan O, starting from Po Tsui Park at 2 pm,
with organizers stating around 150,000 protesters in attendance. During the
rally, protesters threw bricks towards the police station breaking windows.
They chanted "Hong Kong police knowingly break the law" and
"Shame on the corrupt police". Police officers then appeared with
police dogs and protesters dispersed. At night, the crowds occupied Po Shun
Road. Riot police arrived to disperse crowds, and they unreasonably attacked a
passer-by.
Another rally appeared in Kennedy Town
after the Tseung Kwan O rally. By the evening, protesters defied the police ban
and marched towards Sheung Wan. However, by about 7 pm police deployed tear gas
canisters and routed the group to Causeway Bay, where thousands of protesters
setup blockades and occupied areas of the shopping district. Then again by 10
pm riot police attempted to clear the streets with the use of tear gas.
Near the end of the Kennedy Town
protest, some protesters went and blocked the Cross-Harbour Tunnel and a small
group of protesters sprayed graffiti on the sculpture at the Golden Bauhinia
Square. At the same time, a group of protesters
gathered at Wong Tai Sin police station, protesting their way of force to the
residents in the 3 August protest. Fearing that the police may deploy heavy
force following August 3 scuffles, some protesters opted to occupy sections in
Ngau Tau Kok and Kwun Tong.[300] At night, various protests and police
operations were done in Mei Foo, Wong Tai Sin, Tin Shui Wai, Ma On Shan, and
Lam Tin. Eastern Harbour Crossing and Tseung Kwan O Tunnel were temporarily
blocked during the protests.
5 August General Strike
There was a city-wide general strike on
5 August, with protests and sit-ins in different districts. The Cross-Harbour
Tunnel was affected by street blockades, major roadways were obstructed and
train lines stalled, as thousands of workers across 20 different sectors
participated, putting pressure on the government to meet protesters demands. At
least seven major rallies and organizing assemblies were held throughout areas
of Hong Kong. The main rallies took place in Tamar Park in Admiralty, Sha Tin
Town Hall, Tuen Mun Park, Discovery Park in Tsuen Wan, Wong Tai Sin Square,
MacPherson Playground in Mong Kok and Tin Hau Temple Fung Shui Square in Tai
Po.
Workers from various industries as well
as several trade unions had announced in advance that they would join the
strike. The government of Hong Kong issued a statement, urging citizens to not
participate in the strike as it would "undermine further the local economy
that is facing downside risks." Employees at Hong Kong Disneyland announced
work stoppages.[306] Many air traffic controllers called in sick, and over 200
flights were cancelled while only one of the airport runways was operational.
Carrie Lam held a press conference at 10
am, condemning those who joined the strike, and stated that they are
"destroying Hong Kong". She continued to support the police force and
rejected the five demands by protesters. Pro-Beijing legislator Ann Chiang
voiced her disappointment towards Lam's speech with a Facebook post, stating
that Lam had raised many issues but offered no solutions. Meanwhile, the Hang
Seng Index started to drop during Lam's conference and fell 2.9% by the midday
break.
In the evening, protesters near the
North Point neighborhood and Tsuen Wan were attacked by two groups of stick
wielding men, some wearing white shirts and another group in professionally
printed blue shirts. The scuffles were brief but unexpected, and similar in
nature to the 21 July Yuen Long attacks. However, unlike the Yuen Long attacks,
protesters fought back. Later in the night several police stations were
blockaded by protesters and vandalised. Police arrested 148 people by the end
of the day. To disperse the protesters, the police force used more than 800
canisters of tear gas, a record number for Hong Kong, in 14 out of 18 districts
in Hong Kong. As the police used tear gas in close proximity to many densely
populated residential areas, many residents, children, and pets were affected.
On 6 August, Chairwoman Carol Ng of the
Confederation of Trade Unions stated: "If there is still no proper
response from the government ... I presume it is possible to have another
strike." The HKCTU helped to organise the 5 August general strike. They
estimate 350,000 people had joined the strike.
About 290,000 attended protests
and rallies city-wide, while the remainder stayed home and away from work that
day.
7 August Lawyers’ Silent March
A silent march by lawyers was staged on
7 August, the second one since 6 June. Around 3,000 legal sector professionals,
in black, marched in silence from the Court of Final Appeal in Central to the
Department of Justice’s office at around 12:45pm.
The group of protesters stated that
Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng frequently departed from usual procedures
and well-established guidelines, and accused Cheng of bias in selecting
prosecution cases.
They quoted the difference in prosecuting the arrest of
anti-extradition bill protesters as "rioting", versus prosecuting the
arrests in the Yuen Long incident as "unlawful assembly."
Furthermore, the rioting charges against the anti-extradition bill protesters
were fast-tracked ahead of prosecution of the perpetrators of the Yuen Long
violence, which occurred weeks before the protesters were arrested.
Barrister
Kevin Yam stated "All we want is justice, all we want is consistency, we
don’t want to see thugs get away while the best of our youth get
prosecuted." They believed that this was the latest evidence of a decline
of the rule of law.
Campaigners voiced concern over the use
of excessive force and asked for an independent commission of inquiry. Teresa
Cheng refused to meet the lawyers when they arrived at her office.
8 August Catholics March
On Thursday night, around 1200 Catholics
held a candlelight march through Central before finishing outside the Court of
Final Appeal. The march organised by four Christian organisations, called for
the government to heed to the protesters demands and called for both sides to
exercise restraint, stop the violence and sit down to reach an agreement to
help society move forward.
9-11 August Airport Sit-in
A second airport sit-in was held in the
Hong Kong International Airport, which is expected to last for three days.[321]
Protesters hoped to gain international support by having a "warm
welcome." Unlike previous sit-ins, this demonstration was not approved by
the Airport Authority. Extra security measures have been put in place, with
authorities preventing anyone without a boarding pass from entering the check-in
area.[322]
Thousands gathered in both Terminal 1
and 2 by 6 pm. Dressed in black, protesters handed out leaflets and pamphlets
to tourists in several languages, including English, Ukrainian, Spanish, and
German. A large banner reading "Liberate HK" was also unfurled from
the second floor balcony.
Activists chanted and sang Do You Hear the
People Sing?
10 August Protests
Two peaceful protests occurred on Hong
Kong Island. Early in the morning, hundreds of senior citizens marched from Wan
Chai police HQ to Chief Executive’s Office and handed out petition letters
requesting the police to "lay down their offensive weapons".[325] The
protest was followed by a family rally named "Guard our children’s
future" in Edinburgh Place. Hundreds of parents showed up with their kids
to demand the government to respond to the demands of the protesters. The
parents then marched to the Government HQ and displayed banners drawn by
children and balloons.[326]
Less than a thousand protesters
protested in Tai Po in the afternoon despite a police ban on the protest.
Protesters gathered in Tai Po bus station and marched past the original
destination, Kwong Fuk Road Football Ground. It was generally peaceful.
Protesters chanted slogans including "liberate Hong Kong, revolution of
our times" and "our five demands must all be fulfilled", and
yelled "rubbish" and "triad" at the police. Around 6 pm, as
the protesters were surrounded by the police, they moved to Tai Wai and New
Town Plaza in Sha Tin, though protesters in Tai Wai dispersed after the police
used tear gas.[327]
The protesters then moved to different
districts in Hong Kong, including Kowloon Bay, Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan, and Wong
Tai Sin, but they dispersed before the riot police began to advance. The
Cross-Harbour Tunnel was blocked temporarily. In Tsim Sha Tsui, tension rose
when a police officer arrested a bystander. Protesters besieged the police
station, and the police used tear gas to disperse the protesters.
No comments:
Post a Comment