Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists have rallied in their thousands ahead of a mammoth four-day demonstration they hope will steal the spotlight from China’s anniversary celebrations.
In spite of naked police brutality to quash anti-government marches, the momentum behind the protest movement shows no signs of slowing as the city-state braces for its fourth month of uprisings.
Tonight kicked off what is expected to be one of the largest displays of strength so far in order to overshadow the festivities in Beijing.
The Chinese government – whose creeping encroachment on Hong Kong’s autonomy initially sparked the protests – is planning a spectacular military parade on Tuesday to mark the 70 years since the People’s Republic was founded.
Clashes with officers are likely after police banned the anniversary day march citing safety concerns, but activists so far appear poised to face down these threats.
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists have flooded on to the streets in their thousands to begin a mammoth four-day rally they hope will steal the spotlight from China’s anniversary celebrations
Jaw-dropping pictures from the sites of tonight’s rallies show pro-democracy demonstrators crammed into a shopping mall in the Kowloon Tong district
Tonight kicked off what is expected to be one of the largest displays of strength so far to overshadow the festivities in Beijing
A pro-democracy activist holds a placard hitting out at Hong Kong during a rally at Edinburgh Place on Friday evening
Jaw-dropping pictures from the sites of tonight’s rallies show pro-democracy demonstrators crammed into a shopping mall in the Kowloon Tong district.
And thousands more flocked to Edinburgh Place park which they lit up with their mobile phones.
Previous bans have been widely ignored and soon descended into violence with hardcore activists throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, and police responding with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon.
Hong Kong’s protests were ignited by a now-scrapped plan to allow extraditions to the authoritarian mainland.
But they have snowballed into a wider movement calling for democratic rights and police accountability after Beijing and the city’s leader Carrie Lam took a hard line.
On Saturday, thousands are planning to gather in a park next to the city’s parliament for an evening rally marking the fifth anniversary of the ‘Umbrella Movement’, a failed 79-day occupation that called for universal suffrage.
The protesters will likely use the rally to vent their fury over alleged mistreatment of detainees at the San Uk Ling detention centre.
Police brought 54 people arrested on August 11 that night to the remote centre, which is usually only used to process illegal immigrants.
In spite of naked police brutality, the momentum behind the protest movement shows no signs of slowing as the city-state braces for its fourth month of demonstrations
Thousands of protesters flocked to Edinburgh Place park which they lit up with their mobile phones
The Chinese government – whose creeping encroachment on Hong Kong’s autonomy sparked the protests – is planning a spectacular military parade on Tuesday to mark the 70 years since the People’s Republic was founded and protesters (pictured) are hoping to steal their spotlight
Lawyers and local media subsequently reported that 31 people were later hospitalised – six with bone fractures.
A woman in her twenties who asked to use the pseudonym Anna was among those arrested and said she saw multiple people left for hours with badly bleeding wounds.
She said: ‘The police ignored their requests to visit the hospital and insisted they stay in the centre for processing documents, telling them to hold napkins to cover the wounds by themselves.’
As the number attending tonight’s protest swelled, Hong Kong police revealed that students accounted for 29 per cent of the 1,600 people arrested in the four months of protest so far, and urged youngsters to take the ‘straight and narrow path’.
Police public relations chief Tse Chun-chung said 207 high school and university students were detained this month alone despite the resumption of classes after the summer holiday, compared to 257 over the June-August period.
He said there was a rise in teenagers participating in violent crimes, with some already charged in court.
Pro-democracy supporters attend a rally inside a shopping mall at Kowloon Tong district. Demonstrations across Hong Kong over an extradition bill since has since morphed into a broader anti-government movement
As the number attending tonight’s protest swelled, Hong Kong police revealed that students accounted for 29 per cent of the 1,600 people arrested in the four months of protest so far, and urged youngsters to take the ‘straight and narrow path’
This included a 16-year-old charged recently with arson, which carries possible a life imprisonment upon conviction, a 13-year-old girl charged with desecrating Chinese flags and others with attacking police officers and carrying dangerous weapons.
He said: ‘It is an alarming trend to us. It is worrying to see these youths breaking the law and possibly having criminal records at such a young and tender age.
We appeal to all youngsters to rethink their actions and hope the education sector and parents will help our young people to walk the straight and narrow path.’
Young people have largely led the protests that started in June over an extradition bill that the government has now agreed to withdraw.
But the movement has since drawn wider participation as it snowballed into a wider anti-China campaign against what protesters say is Beijing’s creeping intrusion into Hong Kong’s autonomy promised when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.