The Boston Globe - 05.19.2019

OCTOBER 5, 2019 7

THE WORLD

By Shibani Mahtani
and Timothy McLaughlin
WASHINGTON POST
HONG KONG — Hong Kong
leader Carrie Lam invoked
rarely used and sweeping emer-
gency powers Friday to ban face
masks at demonstrations, a
move that sought to quell pro-
democracy protests — but
which quickly had the opposite
effect of intensifying anger on
the streets.
Lam’s decision to use colo-
nial-era security powers further
inflamed tensions roiling since
June and heightened fears that
Hong Kong’s basic freedoms
were being eroded. The order
effectively expands police pow-
ers of arrest, even as many in
Hong Kong fear that police are
operating with impunity in
their growing use of force.
It could also risk tainting
Hong Kong’s hard-won reputa-
tion as an open financial hub,
already under strain because of
the upheaval of recent months.
‘‘Protesters’ violence has
been escalating and has
reached a very alarming level in
the past few days, causing nu-
merous injuries and leading
Hong Kong to a chaotic and
panicked situation,’’ Lam said
in a news conference. Behind
her, a banner read: ‘‘Treasure
Hong Kong, End Violence.’’
‘‘As a responsible govern-
ment, we have the duty to use
all available means to stop the
escalating violence and restore
calm in society,’’ she said.
Lam added that while the
emergency ordinance is being
enacted to ban the masks,
Hong Kong itself was not in a
state of emergency, but instead
an in ‘‘occasion of serious dan-
ger’’ that required such laws.
Critics were quick to reject
themeasureandtheuseof
emergency laws, citing a variety
of reasons, the most fundamen-
tal being that it won’t work.
On Friday night, a crowd of
thousands peacefully marched
more than 3 miles through the
city in opposition to the an-
nouncement and to the govern-
ment. The demonstration later

turned violent in several dis-

tricts, with protesters throwing

gasoline bombs and lighting

symbolic targets like Chinese

banks and subway stations on

fire.

The Hong Kong Hospital

Authority said a 14-year-old

boy had been shot in the thigh.

Police said a plainclothes of-

ficer had fired one shot in self-

defense against a ‘‘large group

of rioters’’ who threw a gasoline

bomb at the officer, lighting his

body on fire.

‘‘We should be prepared for

the worst,’’ said Michael Tien, a

pro-Beijing lawmaker. Tien said

he urged Lam and authorities

in Beijing to offer a concession

to the protest movement along

with the ban, which he charac-

terized as pushed by the police.

‘‘While giving the police the

anti-mask law they wanted, se-

cure from them the acceptance

of an [independent investiga-

tion] into the force,’’ he said.

‘‘Now, it’s all stick and no car-

rot.’’

The ban was put in place at

midnight local time. It will ap-

ply to rallies that have been giv-

en a go-ahead by police, as well

as those that are unauthorized.

The law authorizes a police offi-

cer to order the removal of fa-

cial coverings and take them off

forcefully if the person does not

comply. Noncompliance would

be punishable by a fine or a jail

term of up to a year.

Regina Ip, a pro-Beijing law-

maker and a member of Hong

Kong’s executive council, said

in an interview that such a ban

should have come earlier in re-

sponse to violence that has be-

come ‘‘totally unjustifiable.’’

‘‘Freedom to express their

views is not absolute,’’ she said

of the protesters. ‘‘These people

are interfering with our free-

doms.’’

The mask ban was also

pushed by a more hard-core

group of Beijing loyalists within

Lam’s government, who have

accused her of being too soft on

the unrest roiling the city.

In central Hong Kong, thou-

sands of protesters filled the

streets at lunchtime in a dem-

onstration that continued into

the evening after work hours.

The protesters — some in heels

or suits — left high-rise offices

to join the march. Almost all of

them wore masks.

‘‘This is adding fuel to the

fire,’’ Fernando Cheung, a pro-

democracy lawmaker, said of

the mask ban. ‘‘The result is

clear. This will mark the begin-

ning of riots in Hong Kong.’’

Lam’s announcement came

three days after widespread

demonstrations across Hong

Kong on Tuesday, the 70th an-

niversary of the founding of the

People’s Republic of China, ral-

lies that degenerated into street

battles between protesters and

police. Police fired at protesters

multiple times, using live am-

munition for the first time

since the demonstrations

erupted in June.

One protester was shot in

the chest by an officer at close

range after a group of protest-

ers attacked police. The inci-

dent sparked even more dem-

onstrations this week. The 18-

year-old student, who remains

hospitalized, was charged

Thursday with rioting and as-

saulting a police officer. Police

said the shooting was justified.

Beijing appeared to support

the mask ban. A spokesman for

China’s Hong Kong and Macao

Affairs Office said the chaotic

situation there ‘‘cannot contin-

ue endlessly.’’

Protests began over a bill to

allow extraditions to mainland

China that many feared would

erode the city’s freedoms and

the independence of its reputa-

ble legal system. They have

since swelled into an all-out re-

buke of Hong Kong’s political

system.

Demonstrators are pushing

five demands, including an in-

vestigation of the police, but

the government has responded

only to one, the full withdrawal

of the extradition bill.

By David Keyton
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DUNDALK, Ireland — Irish
republicans are expressing re-
newed hopes of reunifying
their island in the wake of the
UK’s recent Brexit proposals,
seeing that as a solution to the
problems that Britain’s depar-
ture from the European Union
is bringing.
What to do about the bor-
der between the Republic of
Ireland and the UK’s Northern
Ireland has been the biggest
stumbling block in Britain’s at-
tempts to negotiate a depar-
ture deal with the EU.
The biggest fear for many
on both sides of the border is
that customs posts could
spring up, threatening both
the economy and the fragile
peace process.
Making Northern Ireland
part of the republic would be
one way to solve that problem.
‘‘There is going to be a ref-
erendum on Irish unity,” said
Gerry Adams, the retired lead-
er of Sinn Fein who played an
important role in reaching the
1998 Good Friday agreement
that helped end decades of vio-
lence. “Brexit has been the ac-
celerator for all of that.”
Adams spoke to a public
meeting Thursday night that
attracted hundreds of people
living along the border despite
the severe weather caused by
the remnants of Hurricane
Lorenzo.
Britain is set to leave the
European Union on Oct. 31,
which will make the frontier
between the Republic of Ire-

land and Northern Ireland a

border between the EU and

the UK. Residents of Northern

Ireland voted in favor of keep-

ing Britain inside the EU in

the 2016 Brexit referendum.

While farmers, tradesmen,

and local Sinn Fein supporters

listened politely to the panel of

campaigners, politicians, and

experts, their own questions

were much more pragmatic:

Will my southern driving li-

cense still be valid in the

north? Will I need a residence

permit to live in the south?

Will my child residing in the

north still be able to attend the

local school in the south?

There have been few clear

answers.

Speaking earlier in the day

in Stockholm, Irish Prime

Minister Leo Varadkar out-

lined five ways to avoid a bor-

der between Northern Ireland

and the Republic of Ireland —

the first being a united Ire-

land.

This would be possible un-

der the terms of the Good Fri-

day agreement that brought

an end to decades of fighting

in Northern Ireland between

armed factions of republicans

and unionists.

The landmark agreement,

which some European leaders

believe is threatened by Brexit,

states that Ireland can be unit-

ed if residents of Northern Ire-

land vote in favor of it, and if

residents of the Republic of

Ireland do the same.

Despite Sinn Fein’s long-

standing desire for a united

Ireland, which was the rally-

ing cry of the Irish Republican

Army during the violence

known as “The Troubles,” a

majority of residents in North-

ern Ireland are still believed to

favor remaining part of the

UK, and a referendum will on-

ly be held if officials believe

that situation has changed.

Farmer and activist Dami-

an McGenity from Border

Communities Against Brexit,

believes the UK government’s

new proposals were not in-

tended to be accepted, but

rather would be used to blame

the European Union for an an-

ticipated breakdown in talks.

He said many people living

along the border who rely on

access to the European Union

would see unification as an ob-

vious fix to an apparently un-

solvable problem.

‘‘We have a provision in the

Good Friday agreement that if

Ireland was united we would

automatically be a member of

the European Union,” said Mc-

Genity.

‘‘And that solves all of the

problems that this part of Ire-

land has with Brexit.”

VINCENT YU/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Masked protesters took to Hong Kong’s streets Friday after the decision, which hardened the government’s stance amid four months of demonstrations.

Hong Kong leader bans masks at rallies

Usesemergency

powers,sparks

moreprotests

UK Brexit proposals renew talk

of Irish unity among activists

‘Thereisgoingto

beareferendum

onIrishunity.

Brexithasbeen

theacceleratorfor

allofthat.’

GERRY ADAMS,

retired leader of Sinn Fein

PARIS — French prose-

cutors opened an investiga-

tion Friday that treats as a

potential act of terrorism

the fatal knife attack that a

civilian employee carried

out at Paris police headquar-

ters.

The longtime police em-

ployee stabbed four col-

leagues to death Thursday

before he was shot and

killed. A background search

led to the investigation for

murders committed ‘‘in rela-

tion with a terrorist enter-

prise’’ and ‘‘criminal associa-

tion with terrorists,’’ the Par-

is prosecutors’ office said.

The office announced the

decision in a two-line state-

ment and provided no de-

tails about the evidence that

persuaded prosecutors a ter-

ror investigation was war-

ranted.

David Le Bars, head of

the Union of National Police

Commissioners, told French

broadcaster BFM TV it came

from easily accessible sourc-

es found in a search of the

attacker’s home.

‘‘We knew that searching

through his computer histo-

ries, the websites visited, his

relations, we would quickly

have some information,’’ Le

Bars said.

He called the suspicion

that the slayings of three po-

lice officers and an adminis-

trator resulted from an ex-

tremist plot ‘‘a cataclysm,’’

since the attacker worked

for the Police Department.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Terror possible

motive in Paris

TOKYO — A Japanese

whaling ship returned home

to the country’s southwest

Friday after almost meeting

its annual quota, ending its

first commercial whaling

season in 31 years.

Operator Kyodo Senpaku

Co. said its main factory ship,

Nisshin Maru, returned to its

home port of Shimonoseki,

after catching 223 whales

during its three-month expe-

dition off the Japanese coast.

Japan resumed commer-

cial whaling on July 1 after

leaving the International

Whaling Commission, prom-

ising that the whalers would

stay within the country’s ex-

clusive economic waters.

Japan had conducted re-

search hunts for 31 years in

the Antarctic and the North-

west Pacific.

Kyodo Senpaku President

Eiji Mori praised the whalers

for returning with “better

than expected” results.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Japan sees 1st whaling season in 31 years

BAGHDAD — An influen-

tial Iraqi Shi’ite cleric has

called on the government to

resign and early elections be

held to bring the country out

of a crisis that has left more

than 50 dead in four days.

Muqtada al-Sadr issued a

statement Friday night say-

ing that shedding the blood

of ‘‘Iraqis cannot be ignored.’’

Earlier in the day, Sadr’s

Sairoon political bloc in Par-

liament that came in first in

last year’s national elections

said it was suspending par-

ticipation in parliamentary

activities until the govern-

ment introduces a program

that serves Iraqi aspirations.

Since the spontaneous ral-

lies began Tuesday, security

forces have fired live rounds

and tear gas every day to dis-

perse them.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Iraqi cleric wants rulers to quit

KYODO NEWS VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS

Japan’s main whaling ship Nisshin Maru returned Friday.