This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/01/world/asia/hong-kong-protest.html
The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong Protest: Tens of Thousands March on New Year’s Day | Hong Kong Protest: Tens of Thousands March on New Year’s Day |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| HONG KONG — Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents took to the streets on Wednesday for the city’s largest antigovernment protest in weeks, hoping to inject new momentum into a monthslong movement that has seen violent clashes and many arrests. | |
| Wednesday’s protest is only the second large-scale demonstration to be authorized by the police since voters in November overwhelmingly elected pro-democracy politicians to neighborhood offices. That vote, a stinging rebuke to Communist Party officials in China, ushered in the longest period of relative calm since the city was first convulsed by protests in June. | Wednesday’s protest is only the second large-scale demonstration to be authorized by the police since voters in November overwhelmingly elected pro-democracy politicians to neighborhood offices. That vote, a stinging rebuke to Communist Party officials in China, ushered in the longest period of relative calm since the city was first convulsed by protests in June. |
| More than 6,000 people have been arrested since the demonstrations began over legislation, since scrapped, that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. The protests have since expanded to include a broad range of demands for police accountability and greater democracy. | More than 6,000 people have been arrested since the demonstrations began over legislation, since scrapped, that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. The protests have since expanded to include a broad range of demands for police accountability and greater democracy. |
| Here’s the latest. | Here’s the latest. |
| A New Year’s Day march is organized annually by Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp. In light of the crisis currently facing the city, and a population that is the most politically engaged in a generation, many expect this year’s event to be bigger than usual. | A New Year’s Day march is organized annually by Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp. In light of the crisis currently facing the city, and a population that is the most politically engaged in a generation, many expect this year’s event to be bigger than usual. |
| The march began just before 3 p.m. along a two-mile route approved by the police. The protest route passed some of the city’s most iconic landmarks and buildings, stretching from Victoria Park to the Central business district. | The march began just before 3 p.m. along a two-mile route approved by the police. The protest route passed some of the city’s most iconic landmarks and buildings, stretching from Victoria Park to the Central business district. |
| “We must walk shoulder to shoulder and not forget our original intentions,” Jimmy Sham, leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, which organized the march, said at a rally. “We won’t forget all of those who have been suppressed, and we won’t give up on them. | “We must walk shoulder to shoulder and not forget our original intentions,” Jimmy Sham, leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, which organized the march, said at a rally. “We won’t forget all of those who have been suppressed, and we won’t give up on them. |
| The protesters, many of them wearing masks and clad in black, poured into the park and surrounding streets. Some said they were unsure how the movement would continue in the face of a government that was unwilling to compromise. | The protesters, many of them wearing masks and clad in black, poured into the park and surrounding streets. Some said they were unsure how the movement would continue in the face of a government that was unwilling to compromise. |
| “Nobody knows what this movement will eventually achieve, but most people are just doing what they can. If nobody comes out, then it would be the end of Hong Kong and all the beautiful things we are familiar with,” said Grace Ng, 30, who works in public relations. | “Nobody knows what this movement will eventually achieve, but most people are just doing what they can. If nobody comes out, then it would be the end of Hong Kong and all the beautiful things we are familiar with,” said Grace Ng, 30, who works in public relations. |
| The themes of Wednesday’s march include opposing salary increases for police officers — many believe the police have responded brutally to the protests — and ending a perceived government crackdown on activists, especially educators. | The themes of Wednesday’s march include opposing salary increases for police officers — many believe the police have responded brutally to the protests — and ending a perceived government crackdown on activists, especially educators. |
| “We appeal to the organizer and participants to remain calm and rational,” Kwok Ka-chuen, a police spokesman, said ahead of the march. “Let us kick-start 2020 with peace and get Hong Kong back on the right track.” | “We appeal to the organizer and participants to remain calm and rational,” Kwok Ka-chuen, a police spokesman, said ahead of the march. “Let us kick-start 2020 with peace and get Hong Kong back on the right track.” |
| The police are expected to deploy 6,000 officers to patrol the march, The South China Morning Post reported. | The police are expected to deploy 6,000 officers to patrol the march, The South China Morning Post reported. |
| Protesters clashed with the police in Mong Kok, one of the city’s busiest neighborhoods, just as the clock was to strike midnight on New Year’s Eve. The police used water cannons and tear gas against a small group of demonstrators. | Protesters clashed with the police in Mong Kok, one of the city’s busiest neighborhoods, just as the clock was to strike midnight on New Year’s Eve. The police used water cannons and tear gas against a small group of demonstrators. |
| On New Year’s Eve, Carrie Lam, the city’s embattled chief executive, addressed the territory and called for calm ahead of the protest. | On New Year’s Eve, Carrie Lam, the city’s embattled chief executive, addressed the territory and called for calm ahead of the protest. |
| “Let’s start 2020 with a new resolution, to restore order and harmony in society. So we can begin again, together,” Mrs. Lam said in a three-minute video message that included other officials. | “Let’s start 2020 with a new resolution, to restore order and harmony in society. So we can begin again, together,” Mrs. Lam said in a three-minute video message that included other officials. |
| “We must handle the problems at hand and acknowledge the shortcomings in our systems as well as the deep-rooted problems and conflicts that have been accumulating for many years in our society,” she said. | “We must handle the problems at hand and acknowledge the shortcomings in our systems as well as the deep-rooted problems and conflicts that have been accumulating for many years in our society,” she said. |
| Newly formed labor unions, including those for workers in the hotel, construction and insurance industries, recruited new members at the march in hopes of preparing for future strikes. | |
| “Join a union and resist tyranny!” protesters chanted ahead of the march. | |
| Activists have also rallied around an impending, potential clampdown on schools after Hong Kong’s secretary for education, Kevin Yeung, told the mainland Chinese news media last week that the government could fire school principals if they failed to cooperate with the authorities or supported teachers believed to have links to the protests. | |
| “This is taking away the freedom of speech of teachers and it is an impediment on their freedom to teach as they see fit,” said Fung Wai-wah, president of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, at his group’s station along the march. “We find this absolutely unacceptable.” | |
| Mr. Yeung said the education department had received 123 complaints about teachers over the protests, some of them accused of “provocative behavior” or using “inappropriate teaching materials.” | |
| The police in December said nearly 40 percent of those arrested in the protests were students, calling it a “worrying” trend. | |
| On Wednesday, the marchers also gave donations at a booth set up by Spark Alliance, a fund that has raised millions of dollars to provide legal support and other kinds of aid to protesters, defying a police operation last month in which four people were arrested on suspicion of money laundering. The police operation froze $9 million in assets. | |
| In the Wan Chai district, protesters vandalized a branch of HSBC, which has been targeted after the bank closed Spark Alliance’s account in November. Police officers made arrests and used pepper spray to disperse the crowd. | |
| Ezra Cheung and Jamie Tarabay contributed reporting. |