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Hong Kong Protests: Hundreds of Thousands Turn Out for Largest March in Weeks Hong Kong Protests: Hundreds of Thousands Turn Out for Largest March in Weeks
(32 minutes later)
HONG KONG — Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters turned out on Sunday in a show of anger at the Hong Kong government, six months into the semiautonomous city’s most protracted unrest in decades. HONG KONG — Hundreds of thousands of protesters, basking in a recent election victory by Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp, poured onto the city’s streets on Sunday in one of the largest marches in weeks to pressure the government to meet demands for greater civil liberties.
The march on Sunday followed the news of two American business leaders in Hong Kong who were stopped with no explanation from entering the neighboring Chinese city of Macau on Saturday. The huge turnout was a reminder to China’s leader, Xi Jinping, that the monthslong campaign against his authoritarian policies still had broad support in Hong Kong despite a weakening economy and increasingly violent clashes between protesters and the police.
The news of their denial of entry came at a tense moment in relations between China and the United States. Tensions in Hong Kong, a semiautonomous territory, had eased somewhat in recent days, after pro-democracy advocates won a stunning victory in local elections two weeks ago, giving new hope to the movement.
The Hong Kong protests began in June over legislation, since scrapped, that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, and have expanded to include a broad range of demands for police accountability and greater democracy. On Sunday, demonstrators returned in force, packing city streets to denounce Mr. Xi’s government, rail against police brutality and reiterate demands for greater civil liberties, including universal suffrage. They beat drums, sang protest anthems and chanted. “Fight for freedom.” Though the march was largely peaceful, some demonstrators vandalized shops and restaurants and lit a fire outside the high court.
Here’s the latest: “We want Hong Kong to continue being Hong Kong,” said Alice Wong, 24, a biology researcher who stood among protesters gathered at Victoria Park. “We don’t want to become like China.”
A sea of protesters poured into Hong Kong’s major thoroughfares, stretching two miles across downtown on Sunday afternoon for a march organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, which in recent months has led large, peaceful marches. The group estimated that 800,000 people joined the march. As many as 800,000 people attended the march, according to Civil Human Rights Front, an advocacy group that organized the gathering.
The rally is meant to coincide with the United Nations’ Human Rights Day and was authorized by the police. Until this month, the police had recently banned most protests and rallies, prompting concerns about unnecessary restrictions on freedom of assembly. The mood at the march was relaxed, with people taking selfies against a backdrop of the vast crowds. Children, some dressed in black, marched with their parents, holding hands as they shouted, “Stand with Hong Kong!”
“It only takes one dictator to destroy the safeguard of human rights, but to safeguard a person’s rights must take the common efforts of everyone,” Jimmy Sham, the convener of the Civil Human Rights Front, told members of the crowd in speech ahead of the march, while protesters inched forward to lively drum beats and yelled out slogans. A sea of protesters, spread across two miles, filled major thoroughfares as they moved between towering skyscrapers. In some areas, there were so many people that the crowds moved at a snail’s pace and spilled into adjacent alleys. Some small businesses encouraged the turnout by promising giveaways if over a million people joined the march.
The mood at the march appeared relaxed, with people taking selfies against a backdrop of the vast crowds. Small businesses also encouraged turnout by promising giveaways online if over a million people joined the march. The protesters said they intended to remain peaceful on Sunday, but some vowed to use more aggressive tactics if the police cracked down. In the evening, the police readied canisters of tear gas as they stood opposite crowds of protesters who had barricaded a street downtown in a briefly tense moment.
At sunset, a long stream of people continued to flood the streets, while squads of riot police officers waited near groups of protesters. The large turnout could further embolden the movement’s confrontational front-line protesters, who said they planned to disrupt the city’s roads and public transportation system on Monday. The call for further action seemed to resonate among some protesters on Sunday.
Tamara Wong, a 33-year-old protester, said the government’s refusal to listen to the people would only lend more legitimacy to the more confrontational protesters, although she did not expect the authorities to make further concessions. “If the government still refuses to acknowledge our demands after today, we should and will escalate our protests,” said Tamara Wong, 33, an office worker who wore a black mask as she stood among the crowd gathered at Victoria Park.
“The government keeps talking about protesting peacefully, so protest peacefully we shall, today,” Ms. Wong said. “If the government still does not respond after today, then they will only be showing the world that they are not listening and that some violence on the protesters’ side can be justified.” The protesters have demanded amnesty for activists who were arrested and accused of rioting, as well as an independent investigation of police conduct during the demonstrations.
“Because what else can we do?” she added. Despite the show of strength on Sunday, it is unlikely that the protesters will win further concessions from Beijing, which has worked to portray demonstrators as rioters colluding with foreign governments to topple the governing Communist Party.
Tensions rose briefly as night fell, when a crowd of demonstrators blocked a street in the Central business district and riot officers threatened to fire crowd-control weapons beyond the marching route approved by the police, although the gathering was technically authorized until 10 p.m. Mr. Xi, who has cultivated an image as a hard-line leader, has demanded “unswerving efforts to stop and punish violent activities” in Hong Kong. He has publicly endorsed the city’s beleaguered leader, Carrie Lam, to bring an end to the unrest.
A small fire was set outside a closed gate to the city’s High Court, a relatively uncommon move that targeted the judiciary. Messages vowing to escalate tactics if the movement’s demands were not met circulated on the internet during the protest. Chinese officials have suggested that the United States is responsible for helping to fuel unrest in Hong Kong, pointing to statements by American officials in support of the protests. Last month, President Trump signed tough legislation that authorizes sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for rights abuses in Hong Kong. The move was welcomed by many protesters but also seen as exacerbating tensions between the two countries.
Earlier Sunday, the police said they had found a 9 millimeter semiautomatic pistol, five magazines, 105 bullets and two ballistic vests as well as fireworks, among other items, during a series of early morning raids. In a possible sign of increased scrutiny of American citizens working in Hong Kong, two leaders of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong said on Saturday that they had been denied entry to Macau, a semiautonomous Chinese city. Mr. Xi is expected to visit Macau this month to mark the 20th anniversary of the former Portuguese colony’s return to China.
Senior Superintendent Steve Li of the Hong Kong police said that officers had received information that the firearm and fireworks would be used on Sunday “to create chaos, including to shoot at police officers,” or to “hurt innocent bystanders” and pin the blame on officers. Tara Joseph and Robert Grieves, the president and the chairman of the American business group, said they had planned to attend an annual ball put on by the chamber’s Macau branch.
Amid Hong Kong’s unrest, city leaders continue to court controversy. A subsidiary of an engineering services company called Analogue Holdings Limited, whose chairman, Otto Poon, is the husband of Hong Kong’s embattled justice secretary, Teresa Cheng, was investigated by the city’s antitrust watchdog, Analogue Holdings said in a statement Thursday. “We hope that this is just an overreaction to current events and that international business can constructively forge ahead,” Ms. Joseph said.
In the wake of the now-withdrawn extradition bill, Ms. Cheng has become a deeply unpopular figure alongside Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam. Ms. Cheng and Mr. Poon had also been previously embroiled in a scandal involving illegal construction in their mansion — a hot-button local issue. The protests, which began in June in opposition to a bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, has hurt the tourism and retail sectors, pushing the city’s economy into recession.
Tara Joseph and Robert Grieves, the president and the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, or AmCham, were separately denied entry on Saturday to Macau, a semiautonomous gambling enclave in southern China that is an hour’s boat ride from Hong Kong. The two said they were planning to attend an annual ball put on by the Macau branch of the business organization. In recent weeks, the violence has escalated, with protesters intensifying their efforts to vandalize businesses and subway stations they associate with being hostile to the movement. The police shot an antigovernment protester last month, inflaming tensions. Then, in some of the worst violence, universities became battlefields, with black-clad students hurling gasoline bombs, throwing bricks and aiming arrows at riot police, who shot rubber bullets and fired tear gas in return.
“We are puzzled as to why this happened, given this was simply a social occasion to celebrate AmCham Macau’s annual gathering,” said Ms. Joseph, an American citizen and a former journalist. She added that neither she nor Mr. Grieves were given a reason for the refusal. Many demonstrators acknowledge that a compromise with the government is unlikely, despite recent victories. Mrs. Lam, the city’s leader, who is under pressure from Beijing to restore order without weakening the government’s position, has brushed aside their demands and has warned that the mayhem could “take Hong Kong to the road of ruin.”
She said she was detained by immigration officials in Macau for nearly two hours, and both she and Mr. Grieves were made to sign statements that they “voluntarily agreed not to pursue entry” into Macau. They then returned to Hong Kong. Government officials have cast the demonstrations as primarily centered on economic issues, arguing that vast inequality in Hong Kong has exacerbated anger among the city’s youth. They rolled out emergency measures recently to counter the effects of the turmoil on the economy, including providing electricity subsidies to businesses and expanding job training for young people.
“We hope that this is just an overreaction to current events and that international business can constructively forge ahead,” Ms. Joseph said. She added that the chamber has been “consistent in its support for the development of business in the Greater Bay Area,” using Beijing’s term of a new economic zone that links Hong Kong and Macau with mainland China. The authorities have justified their efforts to crack down on the movement by saying that protesters are endangering public safety. On Sunday, the police said they had found a 9- millimeter semiautomatic pistol, five magazines, 105 bullets and two ballistic vests, as well as fireworks, among other items, during a series of early morning raids.
Macau officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Senior Superintendent Steve Li of the Hong Kong Police said early in the day that officers had received information that the firearm and fireworks would have been used on Sunday to create chaos.
The Beijing-backed authorities in Macau have regularly prevented pro-democracy activists and journalists from Hong Kong from entering the city, but it is rare that such actions target members of the business community. The police have in recent months banned many protests and rallies in Hong Kong, citing safety concerns. But the government granted a rare approval for the march on Sunday, which was organized by the Civil Human Rights Front to mark the United Nations’ Human Rights Day.
Beijing has vowed to retaliate against American interests after President Trump signed tough legislation last month that authorized sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong. Demonstrators said they believed that the turnout sent a strong message: The protest movement would not back down.
This month, Macau, a former Portuguese colony, is expected to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its return to Chinese control. “If the government thinks that we will give up,” said Adam Wong, 23, a university student who was waving a black flag, “today’s turnout will prove them delusional.”
Yuli Riswati, an Indonesian photographer, writer and domestic worker in Hong Kong, was detained for nearly a month and deported earlier in December, according to a support group, apparently for overstaying her work visa. Katherine Li and Ezra Cheung contributed reporting.
She has reported on the Hong Kong protests for the city’s Indonesian community. At a rally on Saturday organized by supporters, she said over the phone that she and other detainees were subject to unfair treatment at the city’s immigration detention center where she was held.
The sense of terror “that is infiltrating all kinds of institutions in Hong Kong, as obvious with this case, has reached a level where it can happen to anyone,” said Elaine Ho, 42, an artist who attended the rally. “To see that even it’s reaching people who are already marginalized in Hong Kong’s society is completely unjust,” she added.
Hong Kong is home to nearly 380,000 migrant domestic workers, mostly women from the Philippines and Indonesia, who often toil in poor conditions and play an outsize role in the city’s economy.