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Hong Kong: police fire teargas as thousands march in Yuen Long
Hong Kong: police fire teargas as thousands march in Yuen Long
(about 2 hours later)
Hong Kong riot police have fired teargas and pepper spray on hundreds of protesters after hours of standoffs at several locations across the town of Yuen Long, where suspected gang members attacked commuters with poles and rods last weekend.
Hong Kong riot police fired teargas and pepper spray on thousands of protesters who marched in the town of Yuen Long to condemn an attack by suspected gang members on commuters last weekend.
Thousands had marched in the area earlier on Saturday afternoon in defiance of police, who had banned the demonstration. Marchers said they had come to condemn the use of violence last Sunday to intimidate people into staying silent.
Almost 300,000 protesters and residents had descended on Yuen Long on Saturday afternoon, defying a police ban. They marched to the mass transit station where masked men in white T-shirts had chased and beaten passengers on Sunday.
'Where were the police?' Hong Kong outcry after masked thugs launch attack
By the evening, the peaceful march turned tense as demonstrators pushed close to villages surrounding the town, where some of the triads believed to be behind the attack are based. Police shouted warnings through loudhailers telling people they were involved in illegal gatherings and ordering them to leave immediately. After hours of standoffs near two of the villages, police fired volleys of teargas at protesters who tossed the canisters back.
Shortly after 5pm local time, police began to fire several rounds of teargas at protesters gathering outside the Sai Pin Wai village near the Yuen Long mass transit railway station, after they raised black flags emblazoned with “warning: tear smoke”. Sai Pin Wai village is next to Nam Pin Wai village, where large numbers of men in white entered after the Sunday attack.
Protesters in black T-shirts and hard hats holding home-made wooden shields marched down the main road in Yuen Long when police fired pepper spray before shooting several more rounds of teargas at them, prompting protesters to throw umbrellas and water bottles in return. Demonstrators dismantled roadside barriers and built makeshift barricades between them and the police.
Many protesters left in droves but many remained defiant. “Reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of the era!” they chanted.
The protesters had said they would leave together at 7.30pm to avoid any clashes in the evening with triads or residents from the villages. But as news spread that police had deployed a special tactical squad to clear the streets and demonstrators saw reinforcements arriving, hemming them in, they began to leave in panicked droves.
Later, as about 100 protesters in black T-shirts and hard hats armed with home-made wooden shields marched down the main road in Yuen Long, police fired pepper spray before shooting several more rounds of teargas at them. Protesters threw objects such as umbrellas and water bottles in return.
“I want everyone to be safe and to go home,” said Andy, 22, a demonstrator who was ushering people toward the trains. “This is a long-term movement and we already have less and less people who can be on the frontlines. We don’t want people to get arrested or hurt.”
Outside the Nam Pin Wai village just outside the station, protesters banged on road signs and a phone booth with wooden sticks and umbrellas, and built barricades in case the police advanced towards them. Many held up umbrellas and home-made wooden shields behind a line of makeshift barricades they had built from roadside metal fences with while beating on their shields and barricades with their umbrellas in a rhythm.
Hundreds of protesters remained and continued to face off with the police late into the night, regrouping in the Yuen Long train station and along the main road. A special tactical unit rushed into the train station where protesters had gathered, using pepper spray and beating some with batons. At least one protester was pressed on to the ground and was bleeding. Blood could seen on the floor in the station lobby.
Police fired several more shots of teargas outside the villages. Protesters were locked in a standoff with large number of riot police outside the Sai Pin Wai and Nam Pin Wai villages. Police shouted warning messages through loudhailers telling people they were involved in illegal gatherings and ordering people to leave immediately.
A group smashed the windows of a Lexus near the train station after spotting wooden rods similar to those used against passengers on last Sunday, leaving fliers criticising the police on the bonnet.
Apple Daily reported that police shot at a protester, making a hole in his home-made wooden shield, although it was not immediately known what was used in the shot. A reporter said police threw teargas towards journalists and shone bright lights towards them.
The police issued a statement late on Saturday appealing to protesters to leave Yuen Long as soon as possible. “Police warn that protestors may be arrested if they refuse to leave,” the statement said, adding that demonstrators were participating in an “unauthorised assembly” and may punished with up to five years in prison.
At about the same time, some protesters threw rocks towards police. A couple of smoke bombs landed on the ground, and police put them out immediately. Police then threw teargas again while protesters rushed up to put them out.
The protests and clashes, among the most chaotic of the last seven weeks, raise the stakes of an ongoing standoff between demonstrators and authorities.
Just before 7.30pm, riot police began to charge at protesters and used their batons to beat protesters. At least two were seen held on the ground by police. About 100 riot police officers carrying long shields, guns and batons continued to advance towards the protesters in the direction of the station.
Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region of China, is facing its worst political crisis in decades. The protests, which began over a controversial extradition bill, have evolved to take on other demands including a police inquiry into the violence in Yuen Long last week. Residents, activists and opposition lawmakers have accused the government and police of colluding with the triads in an attempt to suppress protests, a charge vehemently denied by the Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam.
Local media reported that police deployed the special tactical squad in black uniform as protesters yelled and urged each other to leave.
Those attending the rally on Saturday, which turned the town of Yuen Long into a sea of umbrellas as marchers shielded themselves from the sun, said they were not there for any political demands, but to speak out against violence.
A government press release issued in early evening told people that police would “soon embark on a dispersal operation” and ordered them to leave or avoid going to Yuen Long. The statement said a large number of protesters held iron rods and home-made shields. It accused protesters of removing roadside fences and vandalising a police vehicle “causing danger to the life of the police officers onboard”.
“It’s not so much about democracy as it is about trust,” said Fong, 30. “If every Hongkonger chooses to stay at home then we will surely die … This is the way Hongkongers show their trust to each other, by showing up and standing up for each other.”
Earlier in the day, Tan, 25, who had come to the rally despite his parents’ request to stay away, said: “If no one stands up for those people who got hurt, in the future there may be more people who get hurt. We just want to say no to violence.”
The attack in Yuen Long and the response by authorities has added fuel to the protest movement, with rallies planned for Sunday and threatened “industrial actions” from civil servants and other groups.
“If every Hongkonger chooses to stay at home then we will surely die,” said Hong, 30. “If all the people choose to stand up and we choose to support each other we will create a better society.”
Observers say the escalated tensions also raise the likelihood that Beijing will push the Hong Kong government to take a harder line on the protesters. In a rare move, police denied demonstrators’ application for the rally on Saturday in Yuen Long.
What are the Hong Kong protests about?
Authorities also rejected a request to hold one on Sunday in Sheung Wan, near where police fired teargas and rubber bullets on demonstrators who had defaced China’s representative office in Hong Kong.
Most shops along the main road where the march was taking place were closed. The road was turned into a sea of umbrellas as demonstrators tried to shield themselves from the sun. The mood was festive as protesters broke out into cheers and clapped. Residents crowded an overpass, watching and occasionally yelling out: “Go Hong Kong people!” Some hung banners across the bridge that said: “Police and gangsters are one.”
Protesters have vowed to hold the rallies anyway and to continue the movement. Max Chung, who helped organise the rally on Saturday, said he believed residents had shown their resolve: “Hongkongers have stiffened their backs to say no to authoritarianism.”
Some transport links were shut, with the light rail in Yuen Long suspended because of a “special incident”, according to an announcement.
Some were preparing for the possibility of violence. A group of about a dozen protesters dressed all in black, with helmets, wooden shields, bamboo rods and poles were patrolling the perimeter, closer to the villages. The group chanted: “Protect Hong Kong!”
Lee, 24, holding a tennis racket for protection, grew up nearby and went to school in Yuen Long. He said he was shocked and upset when he heard about the attacks. “I really never want to be aggressive. I think today we needed to come out.”
Earlier, protesters surrounded the police station, which was closed, calling on police to come out and talk. One tried to offer them desserts. Others held signs that said: “Stop the violence.” Residents in villages secured bricks to the ground, so they could not be used by protesters.
Earlier in the week, police rejected an application by protesters to hold a rally in Yuen Long on the grounds that there could be clashes with residents of the villages, where the triads are active.
The Hong Kong government told citizens on its Facebook page on Saturday not to go to the Yuen Long protest, warning them against “defying the law”.
The attack in Yuen Long and the response by authorities has plunged Hong Kong further into its worst political crisis in decades. Residents, activists and opposition lawmakers have accused the government and police of colluding with the triads in an attempt to suppress a protest movement that has taken over the city for the last two months, a charge vehemently denied by the Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam.
The demonstrations, initially triggered by a bill that would allow extraditions to mainland China, have turned into a referendum on the Hong Kong government and the eroding of the city’s freedoms under Beijing’s control. China has labelled the protests riots and condemned the “extreme illegal violence”.
Over the past week, dozens of groups including civil servants, teachers, and aviation workers joined the protest movement by issuing letters of condemnation and threatening “industrial action” if the government did not respond to the public’s demands.
The police rejected another application by protesters to hold a rally in Sheung Wan where police and protesters clashed last week.
Hong Kong has been rocked by its largest political crisis in decades since 9 June. The wave of protests during the past seven weeks were triggered by a controversial extradition bill, which allowed for individuals to be sent to mainland China, where courts are controlled by the Communist party. The protests, which have ended in violent clashes in the past few weekends, have since morphed into broader demands for police accountability and universal suffrage.
