Protesters mass in Hong Kong amidst fears of growing cycle of violence

Pro-democracy protesters march to protest against police violence during previous marches, in central Hong Kong - Reuters

HONG KONG (Reuters): Hong Kong authorities stepped up security and fired tear gas around China’s main representative office on Sunday as several protests broke out, with anger among the crowds simmering over what many see as an increasing cycle of violence against them.

Protests over the past two months spearheaded by pro-democracy activists against a proposed bill that would allow people to be extradited from the city to stand trial in courts in mainland China have grown increasingly violent.

A march on Saturday against a violent assault the previous weekend, by suspected triad gang members, ended in violent turmoil as riot police waded in to disperse crowds. 

On Sunday, a gathering in a park in the city’s central business district began spilling into surrounding roads and black-clad protesters set off in several directions, clogging up major thoroughfares. 

Thousands of people headed east, towards the shopping district of Causeway Bay, while another large contingent headed west, towards the Chinese Government’s representative office, known as the Central Government Liaison Office.

There, hundreds of riot police blocked activists from advancing towards the building, which had been heavily fortified with water-filled plastic barricades. A clear plastic shield had been erected around a national emblem above its front doors. Police fired multiple rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters in a densely populated neighbourhood nearby. The protesters, wearing helmets, gas masks and body armour responded with bricks, eggs and other objects, hunkering behind makeshift barricades and umbrellas. Many hit metallic surfaces with sticks to create a loud beat that sounded down the streets. The office has become a focus for the anger of protesters alarmed by what many see as Beijing’s increasing control despite guarantees of autonomy under a ‘one country, two systems’ formula, struck when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. 

Last Sunday, protesters took police by surprise with a swoop on the Liaison Office, scrawling graffiti and throwing paint bombs at walls, the national emblem and a plaque. Chinese officials described the vandalism as a challenge to the central government’s authority which would not be tolerated. 

China denies interfering in Hong Kong and has warned that the violent protests over the proposed legislation allowing extraditions to mainland China were an ‘undisguised challenge’ to the formula under which it is ruled.

What began as a movement to oppose the extradition law that would have allowed people to be sent to China for trial, has taken on broader demands including the resignation of Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leader Carrie Lam, calls for full democracy and an independent inquiry into what some say has been excessive police force against protesters.

The protests are also one of the most direct challenges to the authority of China’s President Xi Jinping.

The protests appeared to be getting more organised, as well as more violent. On Sunday, activists said they hoped to stretch the police by splitting up their marches.