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Pro-Tibet protester nabbed in Hong Kong

By Min Lee | AP

Police officers stand guard during a protest outside Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on 16 January 2010. Hong Kong authorities on Sunday arrested a protester who took part in a small sit-in protest marking the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet.File photo/AP/Vincent Yu/China

Hong Kong authorities on Sunday arrested a protester who took part in a small sit-in marking the anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Beijing, drawing criticism from rights activists here who say police are infringing on the territory’s Western-style freedoms.

The 21-year-old man, accused of attacking police in a scuffle, was not immediately charged and was freed on 500 Hong Kong dollars ($64) bail, police spokeswoman Daisy Wong said. He was among about 20 protesters who held a candlelit vigil Saturday night and then tried to raise a Tibetan flag on the gates of the Chinese government’s liaison office in Hong Kong, the Apple Daily newspaper reported.

Rights activists allege that the Hong Kong government, under pressure from Beijing, has started to take a harder line against protesters critical of China’s authoritarian regime. Police have recently arrested demonstrators demanding Beijing free a prominent dissident and democratic reform for Hong Kong, and raided an underground radio station founded by young pro-democracy activists. Among those arrested suspects was an opposition Hong Kong legislator.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 but retains a separate political system that is supposed to protect civil liberties like freedom of protest, which are often denied on the mainland.

But activists say police have recently confronted demonstrators who have gathered outside the Chinese liaison office. The latest protest, which ended early Sunday, was marking the 51st anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule that forced Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to flee into exile.

“This approach of protecting the liaison office from embarrassment by all means necessary has gone to an extreme where there is a total disrespect for the constitutional right to protest,” Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor Director Law Yuk-kai said.

Hong Kong’s best-known democracy advocate, Martin Lee, said he was so worried by the recent spate of arrests that he has assembled a team of lawyers, including himself, to represent the activists pro bono, the Ming Pao Daily News reported Sunday.

The Hong Kong police didn’t immediately respond to questions on the allegations of aggressive tactics. A woman who answered the phone at the Chinese liaison office Sunday said no one was available for comment.

Copyright © 2010 AP

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