World

Hong Kong protesters march in show of 'peaceful' credentials after chaos

August 18, 2019
Protesters gather for a rally in Victoria Park in Hong Kong on Sunday, in the latest opposition to a planned extradition law that has since morphed into a wider call for democratic rights in the semi-autonomous city. -AFP
Protesters gather for a rally in Victoria Park in Hong Kong on Sunday, in the latest opposition to a planned extradition law that has since morphed into a wider call for democratic rights in the semi-autonomous city. -AFP

HONG KONG - Tens of thousands of Hong Kong democracy activists gathered Sunday for a major rally to show the city's leaders their protest movement still attracts wide public support, despite mounting violence and increasingly stark warnings from Beijing.

The financial hub has been plunged into crisis by ten weeks of demonstrations, with images of masked black-clad protesters engulfed by tear gas during street battles against riot police stunning a city once renowned for its stability.

Communist-ruled mainland China has taken an increasingly hardline tone towards the protesters, decrying the "terrorist-like" actions of a violent hardcore minority among the demonstrators.

Despite the near-nightly clashes with police, the movement has won few concessions from Beijing or the city's unelected leadership.

On Tuesday, protesters blocked passengers from boarding flights at the city's airport and later assaulted two men they accused of being Chinese spies.

The images damaged a campaign that until then had largely targeted the police or government institutions, and prompted an apology from some protest groups.

Sunday's rally, which started at the city's Victoria Park, is an attempt to wrestle the narrative of the protest back.

It is a "rational, non-violent" demonstration, according to organizers the Civil Human Rights Front, the driving force behind record-breaking rallies in June and July that saw hundreds of thousands of people hit the streets.

Police have given permission for the rally to go ahead but banned a proposed march.

Protesters flouted that order, flooding the streets on Sunday afternoon as they marched through the heart of Hong Kong island despite driving rain.

"If Beijing and Hong Kong's tactic is to wait for our movement to die, they are wrong... we will soldier on," CHRF spokeswoman Bonnie Leung told reporters.

China's propaganda apparatus has seized on the weeks of violence, with state media churning out a deluge of damning articles, pictures and videos.

State media also ran images of military personnel and armored personnel carriers across the border in Shenzhen, prompting the United States to warn Beijing against sending in troops.

Analysts say any intervention by Chinese security forces would be a reputational and economic disaster for China.

But Hong Kong's police force are under intense pressure, stretched by flashmob protests and criticized for perceived heavy-handed policing including the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and beating demonstrators -- incidents that have pinballed across social media.

"I think the way police have dealt with this is absolutely out of order. You can make your own judgement based on the many videos out there," protester James Leung told AFP.

Others recognized the billowing violence, which has seen hardcore protesters using rocks, Molotov cocktails and slingshots against the police, has driven the pro-democracy movement into an uncomfortable direction.

"There are some expressing extreme views," rally-goer Ray Cheng, 30, told AFP.

"But we have tried many times with peaceful approaches... I really hope the government can listen to us." -AFP


August 18, 2019
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