HONG KONG - Hong Kong police fired tear
gas and water cannon to disperse thousands of protesters, many
wearing banned face masks, who had converged on the Kowloon
harbour-front hotel district on Sunday to denounce perceived
police brutality during months of unrest.
There was a standoff as dusk began to fall in the
Chinese-ruled city, with pro-democracy protesters and bemused
tourists gathered on the pavements of the shopping and hotel
artery of Nathan Road, which police had earlier cleared in
slow-moving cordons.
Riot police stood by outside the Chungking Mansions
high-rise warren of South Asian restaurants and backpacker
hostels, shields and batons at the ready. Protesters shouted
obscenities in colourful Cantonese at "black police", referring
to perceived over-use of force.
"Fight for Hong Kong!" protesters shouted, "five demands,
not one less", a reference to demands for universal suffrage and
an independent inquiry into police actions, among other things.
Police later moved away, leaving protesters, pedestrians and
tourists alike to take over the street under the neon lights.
Then one water cannon moved in, firing high into the air and
down side-streets.
The number of protesters had grown by the minute earlier in
the afternoon, streaming down Nathan Road to the water's edge,
in front of the dramatic backdrop of Hong Kong island, but many
fled after the tear gas and pepper spray were fired.
Ambulances took one man away on a stretcher. The need for
treatment was not immediately clear.
Police detained some protesters as they gathered, many
yelling profanities while police used loud-hailers to warn
others away. The crowds at the waterfront had largely dispersed
after a couple of hours and headed north up Nathan Road, where
many luxury brand shops closed their shutters.
The rallying cry of the protesters was also for the
protection of "Muslims, journalists and the people".
A police water cannon fired bursts of blue-dyed water at a
small group of people outside a Nathan Road mosque during
protests last weekend, drawing criticism from some in the Muslim
community. There was a large crowd of police outside the mosque
on Sunday.
'NO TO TOTALITARIANISM'
Billy, 26, a salesman who did not want to give his full
name, said he turned out on Sunday because he was angry at the
spraying of the mosque a week earlier.
"Hong Kong people, regardless of our religion ... we come
here to say no to our totalitarian government," he told Reuters,
adding he wanted to protest peacefully. "I have a little bit of
fear ... because our police sometimes they are uncontrollable
and they threaten the safety of our people."
Vick, 26, a social worker standing outside Chungking
Mansions, said he was there in solidarity with South Asians.
"We would like to express our sympathy, and our discontent
with the Hong Kong police and the Hong Kong government," he
said. "We would like the government to make the police more just
and less violent.”
Cindy Chu, 65, a retired nurse, said the police used to be a
force for good.
"It's so simple. They are disturbing the Hong Kong people,"
she said. "And what for? What authority do they have to do that?
It's Hong Kong, not China."
She too was wearing a face mask, banned under a colonial-era
law reintroduced by Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam this month.
Pro-democracy activists have in recent weeks attacked police
with petrol bombs and rocks and slashed one officer in the neck
with a knife. Police have responded with tear gas, water cannon,
rubber bullets and occasional live rounds, wounding several
protesters and a few journalists.
Police deny accusations of brutality, saying they have shown
restraint in life-threatening situations. There had been a
week-long lull in clashes.
Protesters are angry about what they view as creeping
Chinese interference in Hong Kong, a former British colony that
returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two
systems" formula intended to guarantee freedoms not seen on the
mainland.
China denies meddling. It has accused foreign governments,
including the United States and Britain, of stirring up trouble.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on his blog that the
quarter-on-quarter contraction recorded in the three months
ending in June had extended into the third quarter.
Two successive quarters of contraction are the technical
definition of a recession.
Given that there were no signs of recovery, Chan said it
would be “extremely difficult” to achieve an annual growth
target of between 0% and 1% this year.
He said the economy had come under strain on all fronts.
"The true remedy was for all quarters in society to stop
violence, return to rational dialogue and seek a way out," he
said.