HONG KONG—Police arrested and charged a dozen protesters suspected of involvement in antigovernment clashes and widened a hunt for others who joined a rampage through the city’s legislature.
The arrests signal that the government is pressing a newfound advantage, after it was caught off-guard by a wave of popular rallies that scotched its attempt to drive through an unpopular extradition law. Officials were forced to suspend the bill, which would have moved the semiautonomous city closer within Beijing’s legal jurisdiction. The concession emboldened younger activists to challenge the government more strongly.
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But Monday’s violent storming of the legislature, broadcast blow by blow on live television, shocked swaths of the city. Though many still say they understand that protesters were driven to frustration by the government’s intransigence, the mayhem handed an opening to Hong Kong’s government to take a tougher approach.
Beijing on Tuesday voiced its displeasure with the protests, calling the occupation of the legislature a challenge to the political arrangement that gives Hong Kong its limited autonomy—a suggestion that China would directly intervene if events spiral beyond Hong Kong’s control.
Police said Thursday that the 12 people who were arrested range in age from 14 to 36. They were charged with offenses including possession of offensive weapons, unlawful assembly and assaulting and obstructing a police officer. The charges relate to a confrontation between hundreds of protesters and police outside a flag-raising ceremony Monday morning to commemorate Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule from the British in 1997.
Hong Kong’s handling of the unrest, and the Chinese government’s tightening grip on the city, have fueled a diplomatic spat between Beijing and London.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, one of two candidates to become the next prime minister, earlier this week called on Beijing not to use the protests as a “pretext for repression,” and urged the Chinese government to honor a 1984 agreement between the two countries to uphold the city’s autonomy.
“He seems to be basking in the faded glory of British colonialism,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a media briefing Wednesday. “The U.K. considers itself as a guardian, which is nothing but a delusion.”
The barbs continued as China’s ambassador to London, Liu Xiaoming, called a press conference to extend Beijing’s criticism of Mr. Hunt’s comments. In response, Britain’s Foreign Office summoned Mr. Liu for a dressing down.
The Chinese government has for years regarded the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration as “a historic document without realistic meaning,” state-run Xinhua News Agency said.
Two weeks ago in Hong Kong, police took an almost entirely hands-off approach as thousands of mostly young protesters surrounded and barricaded its headquarters, pelting the building with eggs and defacing its walls.
On Wednesday, police said officers had collected a large amount of evidence from the legislature building and were preparing to track down protesters involved in the storming of the Legislative Council on Monday.
“We will follow up on all illegal and violent acts,” the police statement said.
Protesters are planning another march on Sunday in a shopping area in Hong Kong frequented by mainland Chinese tourists, aimed at raising awareness among Chinese people of the recent events in Hong Kong.
Related
- Hong Kong Protests’ Violent Turn Tests Limits of Public Support
- China Hardens Line, Hinting It Could Intervene
- Hong Kong Protests Boil Over After Activists Occupy Legislature
- Protesters Besiege Police Headquarters (June 22)
- Next-Gen Protesters: ‘We Can’t Stay Out of the Way Anymore’ (June 17)
- Hong Kong Upheaval Puts Beijing in a Bind (June 16)
- Massive Crowds Take to Streets in ‘Last Fight’ for Hong Kong (June 9)
—Max Colchester in London and Yoko Kubota in Beijing contributed to this article.
Write to Chuin-Wei Yap at chuin-wei.yap@wsj.com
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-police-make-first-wave-of-arrests-after-protests-11562240165
2019-07-04 16:56:00Z
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