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| Fresh Hong Kong protests planned for Friday | Fresh Hong Kong protests planned for Friday |
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| Hong Kong is braced for another round of demonstrations after the government failed to respond to a list of protester demands including an investigation into police brutality and the withdrawal of an extradition bill by a Thursday afternoon deadline. | Hong Kong is braced for another round of demonstrations after the government failed to respond to a list of protester demands including an investigation into police brutality and the withdrawal of an extradition bill by a Thursday afternoon deadline. |
| After cut-off set by protest leaders passed without word from the government, messages began circulating on social media calling people to come to central Hong Kong from 7am on Friday. | After cut-off set by protest leaders passed without word from the government, messages began circulating on social media calling people to come to central Hong Kong from 7am on Friday. |
| What initially started in early June as protests against a new extradition law have broadened into a pro-democracy movement concerned about the wider relationship between Hong Kong and China and the future for the special administrative region. | |
| Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, has offered a ‘solemn’ personal apology for the crisis and also hinted that she had effectively shelved the controversial legislation. However, protesters criticised her as insincere and said she had ignored their key demands. The demonstrations have continued. | |
| People have been demonstrating against legal changes that would make it easier to extradite people from Hong Kong to China. Supporters say the amendments are key to ensuring the city does not become a criminal refuge, but critics worry Beijing will use the law to extradite political opponents and others to China. Under the amended law, those accused of offences punishable by seven years or more in prison could be extradited. | |
| The government claims the push to change the law, which would also apply to Taiwan and Macau, stems from the killing last year of a Hong Kong woman while she was in Taiwan with her boyfriend. Authorities in Taiwan suspect the woman’s boyfriend, who remains in Hong Kong, but cannot try him because no extradition agreement is in place. | |
| Officials have promised to safeguard against abuses, pledging that no one at risk of political or religious persecution will be sent to the mainland. Suspects who could face the death penalty would not be extradited. | Officials have promised to safeguard against abuses, pledging that no one at risk of political or religious persecution will be sent to the mainland. Suspects who could face the death penalty would not be extradited. |
| Hong Kong officials have repeatedly said the bill has not come from the central government in Beijing. However, Beijing has voiced its backing for the changes. | Hong Kong officials have repeatedly said the bill has not come from the central government in Beijing. However, Beijing has voiced its backing for the changes. |
| Many Hong Kongers fear the proposed extradition law will be used by authorities to target political enemies. They worry the new legislation spells the end of the “one country, two systems” policy, eroding the civil rights enjoyed by Hong Kong residents since the handover of sovereignty from the UK to China in 1997. | |
| Many attending the protests said they could not trust China as it had often used non-political crimes to target government critics, and said they also feared Hong Kong officials would not be able to reject Beijing’s requests. Legal professionals have also expressed concern over the rights of those sent across the border to be tried. The conviction rate in Chinese courts is as high as 99%. Arbitrary detentions, torture and denial of legal representation of one’s choosing are also common. | Many attending the protests said they could not trust China as it had often used non-political crimes to target government critics, and said they also feared Hong Kong officials would not be able to reject Beijing’s requests. Legal professionals have also expressed concern over the rights of those sent across the border to be tried. The conviction rate in Chinese courts is as high as 99%. Arbitrary detentions, torture and denial of legal representation of one’s choosing are also common. |
| After the current crisis, analysts believe the Hong Kong government will likely start a new round of retaliatory measures against its critics while the Chinese government will tighten its grip on the city. Police have said that 32 people have been arrested over the recent demonstrations and five have been charged with rioting, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment. Six pro-democracy members of the legislature have already been ousted. | |
| Lily Kuo in Beijing and Verna Yu in Hong Kong | |
| “No response – no retreat,” read one. It called on people to “picnic, sing, stroll, watch the turtles and keep [out of] the rain”, phrases used as thinly veiled calls to political action because the planned demonstration does not have police approval. | “No response – no retreat,” read one. It called on people to “picnic, sing, stroll, watch the turtles and keep [out of] the rain”, phrases used as thinly veiled calls to political action because the planned demonstration does not have police approval. |
| The city has been electrified by a series of mass protests – two peaceful Sunday marches on successive weekends and one unauthorised midweek demonstration that turned violent. | The city has been electrified by a series of mass protests – two peaceful Sunday marches on successive weekends and one unauthorised midweek demonstration that turned violent. |
| People turned out in huge numbers because of concerns that the city’s economy and society would be fatally damaged by the extradition law, which would allow authorities to send both visitors and residents for trial in China’s opaque, sometimes brutal judicial system. | People turned out in huge numbers because of concerns that the city’s economy and society would be fatally damaged by the extradition law, which would allow authorities to send both visitors and residents for trial in China’s opaque, sometimes brutal judicial system. |
| The large turnout forced the Hong Kong chief executive, Carrie Lam, to publicly apologise and suspend the law she had once promised to ram through the island’s legislature. | The large turnout forced the Hong Kong chief executive, Carrie Lam, to publicly apologise and suspend the law she had once promised to ram through the island’s legislature. |
| In a further apparent concession, the president of the legislature, Andrew Leung called for a delay to another controversial draft law, which would criminalise “insulting” the Chinese national anthem. Hong Kong sports fans have regularly booed when it is played at matches, as a form of protest. | In a further apparent concession, the president of the legislature, Andrew Leung called for a delay to another controversial draft law, which would criminalise “insulting” the Chinese national anthem. Hong Kong sports fans have regularly booed when it is played at matches, as a form of protest. |
| At a press conference on Wednesday, Lam hinted that the bill had been effectively abandoned but refused withdraw it, perhaps hoping to stave off further humiliation. | At a press conference on Wednesday, Lam hinted that the bill had been effectively abandoned but refused withdraw it, perhaps hoping to stave off further humiliation. |
| Opposition figures say they do not trust Lam and want the bill neutralised. They fear she could take it up again in future once some of the public anger has dissipated. Many have called for her resignation. | Opposition figures say they do not trust Lam and want the bill neutralised. They fear she could take it up again in future once some of the public anger has dissipated. Many have called for her resignation. |
| They also want an investigation into police use of force, the end of a crackdown on activists and for authorities to drop charges of rioting, which carry heavy sentences, against five people they have arrested. | They also want an investigation into police use of force, the end of a crackdown on activists and for authorities to drop charges of rioting, which carry heavy sentences, against five people they have arrested. |
| “We are concerned, we feel the youth have been cornered by the government,” said Ho Chi Kwan, an academic, who was particularly worried about arrests and rioting charges. “What they are demanding is what all the people of Hong Kong demand.” | “We are concerned, we feel the youth have been cornered by the government,” said Ho Chi Kwan, an academic, who was particularly worried about arrests and rioting charges. “What they are demanding is what all the people of Hong Kong demand.” |
| Ho was part of a small crowd of opposition activists who waited out the deadline in the sweltering heat outside government offices. They included student unions, church groups, scholars concerned about academic freedoms and Hong Kong parents who mobilised against police violence. | Ho was part of a small crowd of opposition activists who waited out the deadline in the sweltering heat outside government offices. They included student unions, church groups, scholars concerned about academic freedoms and Hong Kong parents who mobilised against police violence. |
| After the deadline passed without response, and as work and school finished, the crowds swelled slightly, but a much larger turnout is expected on Friday. | After the deadline passed without response, and as work and school finished, the crowds swelled slightly, but a much larger turnout is expected on Friday. |
| A similar last-minute protest on Wednesday last week turned violent, and there were fears there could be further unrest on Friday. “The students are still committed to a path of non-violent struggle, but who knows what the government will do,” said Ho. | A similar last-minute protest on Wednesday last week turned violent, and there were fears there could be further unrest on Friday. “The students are still committed to a path of non-violent struggle, but who knows what the government will do,” said Ho. |
| The Hong Kong Journalists Association said it would be offering free protective gear for reporters covering the protests, including gas masks. It had not offered that for Sunday’s march. | The Hong Kong Journalists Association said it would be offering free protective gear for reporters covering the protests, including gas masks. It had not offered that for Sunday’s march. |
| Emily Lau, a veteran politician, was among many voices warning the protesters against violence, saying this would quickly lose them vital international support and was doomed to fail. | Emily Lau, a veteran politician, was among many voices warning the protesters against violence, saying this would quickly lose them vital international support and was doomed to fail. |
| “Can you be more violent than the police or People’s Liberation Army?” she said, adding that the only escalation she favoured was of peaceful protest numbers. | “Can you be more violent than the police or People’s Liberation Army?” she said, adding that the only escalation she favoured was of peaceful protest numbers. |
| Hong Kong’s next mass march is likely to be on 1 July, a national holiday to mark the city’s handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. | Hong Kong’s next mass march is likely to be on 1 July, a national holiday to mark the city’s handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. |
| There is a regular pro-democracy protest on that day, organised by the Civil Human Rights Front, which has also helped coordinate the last two Sunday marches. The group said it would support any peaceful protest before 1 July but its own efforts were focused on that day’s march. | There is a regular pro-democracy protest on that day, organised by the Civil Human Rights Front, which has also helped coordinate the last two Sunday marches. The group said it would support any peaceful protest before 1 July but its own efforts were focused on that day’s march. |
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