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Hong Kong transport system partially reopens Hong Kong: Mask ban spurs new mass protest
(about 1 hour later)
Hong Kong's transport operator MTR has resumed metro services but some stations remain closed due to "serious vandalism" during unrest on Friday. Thousands of anti-government protesters have turned out for marches in Hong Kong despite pouring rain, spurred into action by a government ban on masks.
Services had been suspended after stations and businesses came under attack as demonstrators protested against the government. Many defiantly covered their faces as they set off from several points in a co-ordinated response to the ban, which the High Court upheld on Sunday.
Protesters suffered a blow when the High Court rejected a new bid to overturn a ban on wearing face masks. Metro services, which were attacked by rioters on Friday, have resumed in some parts of the Chinese city.
The court said the law did not deny rights to free expression and assembly. The masks have become the latest focus in months of pro-democracy protests.
Chief executive Carrie Lam introduced the ban on masks by evoking colonial-era powers. Police use of live bullets against protesters this week, leaving two people injured, has also fuelled the unrest.
On Saturday, she defended her decision, saying Hong Kong had been through a "very dark night" of "extreme violence". Chief executive Carrie Lam introduced the ban by invoking powers dating back to colonial rule by the British.
A number of metro stations in the centre of Hong Kong will remain closed on Sunday for repairs, and train services will end at 21:00, three hours earlier than usual. Demonstrators fear that democratic rights are being eroded in the semi-autonomous territory under Chinese rule.
Many shops and businesses which had remained closed on Saturday reopened on Sunday morning, but more anti-government protests are expected later in the day. How big are the new protests?
Unrest in the former British colony started in June, sparked by proposals to extradite suspected criminals to mainland China. Many more people have turned out than on Saturday, when a small march was held in the aftermath of Friday's rioting.
The extradition bill was subsequently cancelled but protests have widened into pro-democracy and anti-police demonstrations. Two groups set off at the same time from the Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui districts, the South China Morning Post reports.
What did the chief executive say? Shops could be seen closing early while luxury and chain stores were closed in Causeway Bay.
"The radical behaviour of rioters took Hong Kong through a very dark night, leaving society today half-paralysed," Carrie Lam said in a pre-recorded video statement on Saturday. On Friday, both businesses and railway stations were attacked by rioters.
"The extreme violence clearly illustrated that Hong Kong's public safety is widely endangered. That's the concrete reason that we had to invoke emergency law yesterday to introduce the anti-mask law." Hosun Lee, a protester in Causeway Bay, told AFP news agency he feared more emergency laws were on the way. "The anti-face mask law is the first step," he said.
"We cannot allow rioters any more to destroy our treasured Hong Kong," she added. How are the authorities responding?
Hundreds of protesters, many of them wearing masks, marched through the Causeway Bay shopping district on Saturday. Ms Lam vowed on Saturday to prevent further violence, saying: "We cannot allow rioters any more to destroy our treasured Hong Kong."
"We're not sure what is going to happen later but we felt we had to get out and show our basic right to wear a mask," Sue, 22, told Reuters news agency from behind her black mask and dark glasses. She justified the law against masks as a response to the demonstrators' "extreme violence" which was, she said, endangering Hong Kong's public safety.
"The government needs to learn it can't squeeze Hong Kong people like this." A second legal challenge to the mask ban, which was brought by opposition legislators, was rejected by the High Court.
The legislators had argued that the prohibition was unconstitutional because it denied the rights of free expression and free assembly.
How dangerous is the situation?How dangerous is the situation?
Over the months, clashes between police and activists have become increasingly violent.Over the months, clashes between police and activists have become increasingly violent.
Last Tuesday, police shot a protester with a live bullet for the first time, wounding the 18-year-old, who was allegedly attacking a police officer. On Tuesday, police shot a protester with a live bullet for the first time, wounding the 18-year-old, who was allegedly attacking a police officer.
On Friday, a boy aged 14 was shot in the leg with a live round in Yuen Long, a town to the west of the city.On Friday, a boy aged 14 was shot in the leg with a live round in Yuen Long, a town to the west of the city.
A plain-clothes police officer with an unmarked police car was later set upon by rioters in the same area but officials did not link the two incidents, the South China Morning Post reports.A plain-clothes police officer with an unmarked police car was later set upon by rioters in the same area but officials did not link the two incidents, the South China Morning Post reports.
What is Hong Kong's status?What is Hong Kong's status?
Hong Kong is a former British colony handed back to China in 1997.Hong Kong is a former British colony handed back to China in 1997.
It has a "one country, two systems" agreement that guarantees it some autonomy, and its people certain freedoms, including freedom of assembly and freedom of speech.It has a "one country, two systems" agreement that guarantees it some autonomy, and its people certain freedoms, including freedom of assembly and freedom of speech.
But those freedoms - the Basic Law - expire in 2047 and it is not clear what Hong Kong's status will then be.But those freedoms - the Basic Law - expire in 2047 and it is not clear what Hong Kong's status will then be.