Hong Kong - Tens of thousands of
demonstrators in Hong Kong surrounded the city's legislature on
Wednesday, forcing it to postpone a second round of debate on an
extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland
China for trial.
The protesters, most of them young people dressed in black,
erected barricades as they prepared to hunker down for an
extended occupation of the area, in scenes reminiscent of
pro-democracy "Occupy" protests that rocked the city in 2014.
Protesters rallied in and around Lung Wo Road, a main
east-west artery near the offices of embattled Hong Kong Chief
Executive Carrie Lam, as hundreds of riot police, some armed
with batons and plastic shields, warned them to stop advancing.
"Didn't we say at the end of the Umbrella movement we would
be back?" pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo said, referring to
the name often used for the 2014 "Occupy" demonstrations.
"Now we are back!" she said as supporters echoed her words.
Lam has vowed to press ahead with the legislation despite
deep concerns in the Asian financial hub, including among
business leaders, that it could undermine freedoms and investor
confidence, and erode the city's competitive advantages.
Opposition to the bill on Sunday triggered Hong Kong's
biggest political demonstration since its handover from British
to Chinese rule in 1997 under a deal guaranteeing it special
autonomy.
The government said debate on the bill that was due to take
place in the city's 70-seat Legislative Council on Wednesday
would be delayed until further notice.
The legislature is controlled by a pro-Beijing majority.
"We won't leave till they scrap the law," said one young man
wearing a black mask and gloves.
"Carrie Lam has underestimated us. We won't let her get away
with this," he said.
FOOD, GOGGLES AND BRICKS
Many of the protesters, who skipped work, school or
university to join the rally, defied police calls to retreat and
passed around provisions, including medical supplies, goggles,
water and food.
Some stockpiled bricks broken away from pavements.
Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung urged the protesters to stop
occupying the road and appealed for calm and restraint. "We also
appeal to the people who are stationed to ... disperse as soon
as possible, and not to try to defy/challenge the law," he said.
The demonstrators rallied just a stone's throw from the
heart of the financial centre where glittering skyscrapers house
the offices of some of the world's biggest companies, including
HSBC.
The massive rally was also within sight of the Hong Kong
garrison of China's People's Liberation Army, whose presence in
the city has been one of the most sensitive elements of the 1997
handover.
Standard Chartered, Bank of East Asia and HSBC
suspended bank operations at some branches in the area.
A spokesman for bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and
Clearing (HKEX) said Lam would not attend a cocktail
reception on Wednesday as previously planned.
The proposed bill has attracted widespread criticism at home
and abroad, prompting rare criticism from judges, Hong Kong's
business community, some pro-establishment figures and several
foreign governments and business chambers.
Demonstrators from across a wide spectrum of Hong Kong
society began joining overnight protests earlier on Wednesday as
businesses across the city prepared to go on strike.
Lam has sought to soothe public concerns and said her
administration was creating additional amendments to the bill,
including safeguarding human rights.
Under the proposed law, Hong Kong residents, as well as
foreign and Chinese nationals living or travelling through the
city, would all be at risk if they are wanted on the mainland.
Sunday's protest, which organisers said saw more than a
million people take to the streets, in addition to a snowballing
backlash against the extradition bill, could raise questions
about Lam's ability to govern effectively.
CRISIS
The protests have plunged Hong Kong into political crisis,
just as the 2014 demonstrations did, heaping pressure on Lam's
administration and her official backers in Beijing.
The failure of the 2014 protests to wrest concessions on
democracy from Beijing, coupled with the prosecutions of at
least 100 mostly young protesters, initially discouraged many
from going back out on the streets. That changed on Sunday.
Britain handed Hong Kong back to China 22 years ago under a
"one-country, two-systems" formula, with guarantees that its
autonomy and freedoms, including an independent justice system,
would be protected.
However, many accuse China of extensive meddling since then,
including obstruction of democratic reforms, interference with
local elections and of being behind the disappearance of five
Hong Kong-based booksellers, starting in 2015, who specialised
in works critical of Chinese leaders.
Beijing rejects those accusations and official Chinese media
said this week "foreign forces" were trying to damage China by
creating chaos over the extradition bill.
The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong called on the government
not to pass the bill "hurriedly" and urged Christians to pray
for the city. Lam, who warned against "radical action" at the
protests, is a Catholic.
Human rights groups have repeatedly cited the alleged use of
torture, arbitrary detentions, forced confessions and problems
accessing lawyers in China, where courts are controlled by the
Communist Party, as reasons why the Hong Kong bill should not
proceed.
China denies accusations that it tramples on human rights.