Riot police wearing face masks to avoid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) argue with anti-government protesters as they stage a rally at a shopping mall, in Hong Kong, China, on 26 April 2020. Reuters/Tyrone Siu
Reuters
HONG KONG, China, 26 April 2020
Hong Kong riot police armed with shields dispersed a crowd of 300 pro-democracy activists holding a singing protest in an upmarket shopping mall on Sunday, despite a ban on public gatherings of more than four people.
Chanting popular protest slogans, mostly young activists clad in black swarmed the Cityplaza mall shouting “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times!” while others called for the release of pro-democracy activists.
The protest was the first sizable gathering since the government imposed the ban on public meetings at the end of March to curb a spike in coronavirus infections.
Fears that Beijing is flexing its muscles over the Asian financial hub risk reviving anti-government protests after months of calm as social distancing rules start to ease.
Political tensions have escalated over the past two weeks after the arrest of 15 pro-democracy activists in the city’s biggest crackdown on the movement. Beijing has said it supported the arrests in the Chinese special administrative region.
On Sunday, police cordoned off sections of the Cityplaza mall, prompting some stores to shut as activists and shoppers, including families with children, were ordered to leave.
“People were just singing, it’s very peaceful … we didn’t do anything illegally. Democracy and freedom is more important,” said a high school student surnamed Or who came to participate ahead of his university entrance exam on Monday.
Adding to concerns that Beijing is increasingly meddling in the city’s affairs – a claim the central government rejects – Beijing’s top official in there urged local authorities last week to enact national security legislation as soon as possible.
The people of Hong Kong are trying to wrestle with a python. Communist China is out to crush the democracy movement in Hong Kong. The leaders have been arrested, and they reckoned that will be a body blow to the movement. We will have to wait and see how determined the young people of Hong Kong are. So far, they demonstrated they are no pushovers, and they are ready to fight for their rights and their country. They were an inspiration. The CCP is pushing to enact Article 23 of the Basic Law which prohibits any act of treason, secession, sedition, and subversion against the PRC Government, which would shut out any protest or rebellion. Sedition not only covers a person’s actions but also any words or writings in print that may incite, encourage, or promote the overthrow of a government. This will deal a devastating blow to the freedom of speech and will effectively silence the Hong Kong people like those under PRC jurisdiction. Forcing this on Hong Kong will escalate the protest because this will nullify the “one country, two systems” agreement, and instead be left with only “one country”.
This is how the CCP uses laws to suppress dissent and criminalise legitimate protest. That is why the Chinese laws are not there to protect the rights of the people but in fact to suppress their rights. That is why all the people living under the PRC jurisdiction are captives of a regime which rules by sheer fear and intimidation. There is no future for the people in such a system. They have to constantly live in fear of the regime which they cannot shake off because it is supported by the regime’s killing machine, the PLA. If you need reminding, watch footage of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Anyone who airs any opinion about the regime will face the same fate as that of late Liu Xiobo.