Ng Han Guan AP
HONG KONG — A mass protest in Hong Kong came to an abrupt and chaotic end on Sunday when demonstrators attacked plainclothes police officers, sparking a response from authorities that included pepper spray, tear gas and numerous arrests.
Relations between the public and the Hong Kong Police Force have collapsed during the months of protests that began in response to the government’s attempt to pass a bill that would allow for extraditions to mainland China. The bill was withdrawn, but the alleged misuse of force by the police, and the government’s refusal to launch an independent inquiry into the force’s conduct, have become a central grievance.
The scenes on Sunday here, where pro-democracy protesters brawled with police, marked a return to the sporadic violence that has occasionally erupted around the largely peaceful anti-government movement, now in its eight month. It also underscores the risk of using plainclothes police officers to respond to the protests, a highly controversial tactic that has sowed mistrust and prompted scuffles multiple times since the demonstrations began in June.
[Hong Kong police respond with tear gas, water cannons as protesters mark new year]
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Chater Garden in the city’s Central district to take part in a rally opposing Communism and calling for universal suffrage in the territory. Organizers had applied for a permit for a march, which was denied, but police did approve the holding of a rally as long as it stayed in one place. The crowd easily filled the park and protesters spilled into the nearby streets.
The turnout appeared to be the largest since an authorized protest on New Year’s Day, when organizers said over a million people gathered to demonstrate but had their march canceled by police midway through.
Ng Han Guan
AP
A woman cries as she pleads with the police not to beat a man as police detain protesters calling for electoral reforms and a boycott of the Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020.
The plainclothes officers told the organizers that the rally was being called off at around 4:00 p.m., Ventus Lau, a member of the Hong Kong Civil Assembly Team, which organized the rally, said. Lau asked to see one of the officer’s identification card, he said, but the officer initially resisted. Once he saw the officer’s badge, Lau said, he attempted to clear the park, but the altercation had drawn a crowd of angry protesters and fighting broke out.
At around 4:30 p.m., a small group of riot police entered the park in what looked to be an effort to assist their injured colleagues and clear the park.
A group of protesters chased the injured and bleeding plainclothes officers across the street, where they attempted to find safety in a building but were unable to enter because the doors were locked. Cornered, the three were beaten by protesters with umbrellas and batons. One protester attempted to hit them with a brick. More police rushed in to disperse the crowd.
Moments later, police fired multiple rounds of tear gas, sending protesters, and dozens of migrant domestic workers who gather in the area on their day off, fleeing. The three people beaten — two men and a woman — left in ambulances with their heads bandaged.
Police raced down the nearby streets clearing protesters backed by an armored vehicle and water cannons.
The police said in a statement that two officers from the Police Community Liaison Office were speaking with rally organizers when they “were suddenly surrounded and beaten up brutally by a large group of rioters with wooden sticks and other weapons.”
“They were left with bloody head injuries. Such appalling acts are not to be condoned. The Police will endeavor to bring the assailants to justice,” the statement added. Lau was arrested on Sunday evening, local media reported.
Earlier this week, police commissioner Chris Tang was grilled by district councilors about the force’s use of plainclothes officers, who often have no visible identification and further obscure themselves by wearing masks. One district councilor held up photos of plainclothes officers and asked Tang if he himself could identify the people as officers, to which Tang responded that he could not.
Sunday’s protest, featuring a range of speakers and an Italian opera singer, drew a crowd of diverse ages. Many of the protest materials being handed out were styled for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.
The government has drastically scaled back its own celebrations this year — canceling a fireworks show and limiting the size of the traditional New Year’s markets selling food and flowers. But independent fairs have popped up offering items featuring popular protest slogans and icons.
Faning Yam, a 27-year-old waitress, stood near a suitcase filled with 3,000 cards she had printed that people filled out with New Year messages to be delivered to imprisoned protesters. “Chinese New Year is coming and we need to bring some encouragement to our brothers and sisters who are in jail for us,” she said.
Cheng Keng Ieong, a pro-democracy district councilor, handed out fai chun, a traditional New Year decoration, emblazoned with the slogan “five demands, not one less.” The mantra was popularized after Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s leader withdrew the extradition bill, but refused to meet any of the other four demands laid out by protesters including univeral suffrage and an independent inquiry into police conduct.
“We are not giving up,” Cheng said, “even if they [the government] is abusing its power and using the police as a tool.”
Earlier this week Lam was questioned by lawmakers during a raucous session at the Legislative Council about the police. Lam dismissed the concerns as a smear campaign aimed at weakening the police’s ability to enforce the law. Cheng described Lam’s comments as “useless.”
“The voting results are very clear,” he said, referencing November’s district council elections during which pro-democracy candidates routed the pro-Beijing camp, “they want the five demands.”
Ng Han Guan
AP
Participants wave British and U.S. flags during a rally demanding electoral democracy and call for boycott of the Chinese Communist Party and all businesses seen to support it in Hong Kong, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020.
Tiffany Liang contributed to this report.
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2020-01-19 12:46:00Z
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