HONG KONG - Thousands of mostly black-clad
activists set off on a protest march in Hong Kong's Mong Kok
district on Saturday, as the Chinese-controlled city braced for
another weekend of anti-government demonstrations.
Protests against a proposed bill allowing people to be
extradited to stand trial in mainland China have escalated since
June, growing increasingly violent, with police accused of
excessive force and failing to protect protesters from suspected
gang attacks.
Mong Kok, which includes gritty working class sections and
is also a popular shopping destination, was the scene of some of
the most violent clashes during pro-democracy protests in 2014.
Many of Saturday's demonstraters wore yellow or white hard
hats, and the crowds chanted "age of revolution!" and
"Hongkongers, add oil!" - a popular exhortation in Cantonese.
"I'm a little worried about whether the police force might
use violent ways on the demonstrators because the route of the
demonstration is a little bit narrow, and if we want to leave it
might be difficult to get away from the police," said a
20-year-old university student named Ivan.
"I think this entire movement will continue until at least
the end of 2019," he said.
Hundreds of marchers held posters with an illustration of
protesters in hard hats tending to a young child, with the words
"protect the future".
The crowd was mostly young, but also included families and
many older people. Some young couples held hands.
"We are here because we want to stick up for Hong Kong. We
don't need an evil law to take over Hong Kong," said a woman
surnamed Yau who was joined by family members including her
11-year-old daughter.
As the marchers gathered at the starting point, one passed
around pre-paid subway cards to young groups, while others gave
out chicken wings and McDonalds food. When the march started,
volunteers handed out hard hats, face masks and water bottles.
Most of the shops in the upscale Langham Place shopping mall
had pulled down their shutters by late afternoon, and many
street-facing businesses along the march route had closed.
POLICE SUPPORTERS
Across the harbour, on Hong Kong island, thousands of police
supporters, mostly wearing white, gathered for a separate rally
amid a carnival-like atmosphere in Victoria Park.
Many waved Hong Kong and Chinese flags and the crowd shouted
slogans in support of the police. Pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho
was greeted with strong applause.
"We are the real Hong Kong people who are not the same as
those black-shirted thugs. We don't need a so-called 'HK
revolution', we only need to do our best, which is enough," he
told the crowd.
Sylvia Lam, 61, who described herself as a housewife, said
she had turned up at the pro-police rally to oppose violence.
"I feel extremely uncomfortable when every time I watch TV,
the scenes are so radical," she said.
"Young people should stop and think, don't become someone's
political tools, be rational please," she said.
MORE PROTESTS PLANNED
Further anti-government protests were scheduled for Sunday,
with activists calling for a mass strike on Monday.
On Friday evening in central Hong Kong, thousands of civil
servants defied a warning from authorities to remain politically
neutral and joined anti-government protests for the first time
since they started two months ago.
In Washington on Friday, a bipartisan group of U.S.
lawmakers called on the Trump administration to halt future
sales of munitions and crowd-control equipment to Hong Kong's
police force, which has been accused of using excessive force
against protesters.
Under Chinese rule, Hong Kong has been allowed to retain
extensive freedoms, such as an independent judiciary, but many
residents see the extradition bill as the latest step in a
relentless march towards mainland control.
The protests are the most serious political crisis in Hong
Kong since it returned to China 22 years ago.
They also pose the greatest popular challenge to Chinese
leader Xi Jinping since he took office in 2012 and come as Xi
grapples with an escalating trade war with the United States and
a slowing economy in a politically sensitive year. On Oct. 1,
China will mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the
People's Republic.