Hong Kong will ban face masks at public demonstrations as part of emergency powers announced Friday, as sometimes violent pro-democracy protests continue in the semiautonomous territory.
Carrie Lam, the city's Beijing-backed leader, told a press conference that the the ban on face masks, which are worn by many protesters to hide their identities, would come into effect at midnight local time.
"We've seen that almost all protesters who carried out vandalism and violence covered their face," Lam told reporters.
"We believe the prohibition on face covering regulation will be an effective deterrent to radical behavior and it will also help the police in enforcing the law,” she added.
If convicted, demonstrators could face a maximum fine of some 25,000 Hong Kong dollars ($3,187) and a year imprisonment, the Hong Kong information services department said in a statement.
If they refuse to comply with police to remove the face covering, a demonstrator could face a fine of up to 10,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1,275) and imprisonment for six months, the statement said.
Reasonable excuses for a person to cover their face include pre-existing medical or health reasons, religious or professional reasons, it added.
Before the new rule was confirmed, protests against it began across the Asian financial hub, with hundreds of office workers wearing masks gathering to march.
"After so many months the government has refused to answer our demands," said one protester, who asked to be identified as just Chan, at a demonstration in the city's Central district.
"Police brutality is becoming more serious and the set up of an anti-mask law is to threaten us from protesting," said the 27-year-old financial industry worker.
Many people in Hong Kong wear masks on a daily basis to protect themselves from colds and flu. Lam said she had taken this into account.
"The regulation will target those who use violence, we understand there may be other people who need wear a mask or cover their face because of a legitimate need," she said.
However, it remained unclear how the government planned to enforce the ban or how straightforward it would be to evaluate "legitimate" use.
Lam stressed that the new regulation did not mean that Hong Kong was in a state of emergency but hoped that the public would understand the need for the ban.
"I hope the public will support and understand what we're doing," she said.
Many do not. Prominent activist Joshua Wong tweeted that Friday's announcement could lead to further powers, such as arbitrary arrest.
"I strongly urge the international community to be aware of the de-facto martial law may be applied in Hong Kong soon, in the next few hours or in the next few days," Wong later told reporters.
Anti-government protests have gripped the former British colony for months, plunging it into its biggest political crisis in decades and posing a popular challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The protesters are angry about what they see as creeping interference by Beijing in their city's affairs despite a promise of autonomy in the "one country, two systems" formula under which Hong Kong returned to China in 1997.
China dismisses accusations it is meddling and has accused foreign governments, including the United States and Britain, of stirring up anti-China sentiment.
Lam said Friday that so far some 1,100 people had been injured and of them around 300 were police officers.
What began as opposition to a proposed extradition law, which that could have seen people sent for trial in mainland courts but has now been shelved, has grown into a call for five demands, including universal suffrage and an inquiry into alleged police brutality.
Protesters, some wearing gas masks and helmets, marched past some of the city's most expensive real estate including British bank HSBC's head office, on Friday, calling out for "five demands, not one less".
The protests have been inflamed by the police shooting of a teenaged secondary school student on Tuesday during a clash, and more rallies are expected later in the evening and over the weekend.
Police said the officer involved in the shooting acted in self-defense because his life was under threat. The teenager, the first protester hit by live fire during months of unrest, remains in hospital in a stable condition.
Lam said Thursday that escalating violence, use of lethal weapons and snatching of police pistols meant police have "no choice but to use guns to try to save their own lives."
Riot police moved in to districts across Hong Kong overnight, firing tear gas at a chanting crowd in a residential area, while rail operator MTR Corp shut several stations as violence escalated.
Ed Flanagan contributed.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/hong-kong-introduces-emergency-powers-ban-face-masks-protests-n1062301
2019-10-04 08:49:00Z
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