The Sunday Telegraph - 01.09.2019

14 **^ Sunday 1 September 2019 The Sunday Telegraph

Fire across Hong

Kong as activists

use petrol bombs

in further clashes

By Sophia Yan and Katy Wong

HONG KONG yesterday witnessed
some of its most intense clashes since
anti-government protests began, as a
hardline faction of demonstrators took
to the streets with petrol bombs.
Activists marched in the pouring
rain through several neighbourhoods,
shouting “Liberate Hong Kong, revolu-
tion of our times”, before lobbing Molo-
tov cocktails and bricks at the city’s
legislative building and police head-
quarters.
Police responded with tear gas, rub-
ber bullets and water cannons that
gushed water laced with blue dye to
help identify the black-clad, masked
protesters cowering behind umbrellas.
Police later fired live rounds in an at-
tempt to disperse demonstrators.
The rally was banned by authorities.
But the display of violence demon-
strated how efforts to suppress the
movement have largely had the oppo-
site effect, instead galvanising activists.
As night fell, the demonstrators,
squeezed by the city’s elite “Raptor”

police unit, retreated and lit a make-

shift road barrier on fire, wrapping

brightly lit skyscrapers with billowing

clouds of black smoke.

Yesterday’s clashes came on the fifth

anniversary of Beijing’s decision to re-

strict democratic reforms in the terri-

tory, a move that outraged residents

and touched off the 79-day Umbrella

Movement in 2014.

Fire searing across city streets was a

reminder that tensions are rising to a

feverish pitch in the former British col-

ony, which is facing its biggest political

crisis since being returned to Beijing

rule in 1997.

Protests first sparked against a pro-

posal allowing extraditions to main-

land China, but activists’ demands

grew into calls for democracy and po-

lice accountability.

The largely youth-driven movement

seems far from dying down. Police ef-

forts to restore order – firing warning

shots and making more than 900 ar-

rests – have done little to quell dissent.

On Friday, police arrested several

key pro-democracy activists and law-

World news

Migrant list leaves Indian citizens stateless

By Saptarshi Ray in New Delhi

ALMOST two million people face being
left stateless in the northern Indian
state of Assam after yesterday’s publi-
cation of a register aimed at weeding
out “illegal migrants”.
The National Register of Citizens
(NRC) – the culmination of a years-long
effort in the border state – detailed
31.1 million citizens, leaving off 1.9 mil-
lion people. Across Assam, residents
queued to find out if they had made the
cut, with reports of families in despair.
Critics say the scheme is an attempt
to deport millions of minority Muslims,
many of whom entered India from

Bangladesh after the 1971 Independ-

ence War in the country.

Only those who can prove they or

their forebears were in India before

March 24, 1971 could be included,

meaning many who have been in the

state for generations face deportation.

Shahibul Haque Shikdar, a 39-year-

old Muslim college teacher, was dis-

traught after two of his children made

it to the list but he was left out. He said:

“Even my father’s name is there”.

Under the BJP’s policy, the NRC

makes considerations for refugees, but

specifically not for Muslims.

People who have been excluded now

have 120 days to bring an appeal at For-

eigners’ Tribunals.

Aakar Patel, the Head of Amnesty In-

ternational India, said: “In many in-

stances, people are facing detention

and deportation largely because they

do not have documents to show their

parents or even grandparents were In-

dian citizens.

DC’s Pandas may be dragged into trade war

By Rozina Sabur in Washington

WASHINGTON’S National Zoo may be

left without any giant pandas amid

fears Donald Trump’s trade war with

China could see the animals used as a

political tool.

The Smithsonian National Zoo’s

panda bears are one of the main draws

for its two million annual visitors, but

the current lease of its two adults, male

Tian Tian and female Mei Xiang, is due

to expire next year.

The zoo’s only other panda, Bei Bei,

turned four this month – the age when

pandas fully mature and are able to

breed – and will be sent back to China

within the next few months under a

prior agreement.

China’s giant pandas have often been

used to sweeten relations with interna-

tional partners; Washington’s National

Zoo received its first pair in 1972 to

commemorate President Richard Nix-

on’s successful visit to China.

Those bears were a gift, but the cur-

rent pair were sent over under a lease

agreement, which has since been ex-

tended multiple times and is set to ex-

pire on December 7 2020.

But there are now fears that the two

pandas could be drawn into the tit-for-

tat trade war which has seen tensions

between America and China escalate.

Mr Trump has repeatedly rebuked

the country for treating America “un-

fairly” and his administration is poised

to impose 15 per cent tariffs on some

$112 billion of Chinese imports today.

Beijing has warned that it has “am-

ple” means to retaliate but has also sig-

nalled its willingness to negotiate.

The zoo said it has not started dis-

cussions with the Chinese about the

lease but hope the pandas will stay.

However, there is some speculation

the Chinese government may wish to

hold off negotiations until closer to the

November 2020 US presidential elec-

tion, when the political landscape be-

comes clearer.

makers, a move possibly aimed at rein-

ing things in ahead of another explosive

weekend as people can be held for 48

hours without being charged.

More were arrested yesterday, in-

cluding from inside four closed subway

stations. A few protesters also sus-

tained injuries – one lay in front of a

bank with knee guards still on, while

volunteer first aid workers pressed

gauze to stop bleeding on the head.

Riot police surrounded the group.

“I have seen how police use exces-

sive force ... how they push protesters

... I was around when a female medic

got shot in the eye,” said M, an aggres-

sive front-line defender, 18. Even after a

friend and fellow frontliner was ar-

rested, he said: “I need to protect them.

I still have the obligation to come out.”

Despite the escalating violence, the

movement continues to enjoy broad

public support.

“For as long as but 100 of us remain

alive, never will we on any condition

remain under Chinese tyranny,” read a

note scrawled on an overpass.

Earlier in the day, LIHKG, a platform

used by protesters, was down for hours

after being targeted in a cyberattack. In

June, messaging app Telegram said it

was also hit by an attack from China.

As the tumult continues, Beijing has

issued ominous warnings that the mili-

tary was ready to intervene.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong chief execu-

tive, has refused to rule out invoking

emergency powers, a move that would

give her sweeping authority, including

censorship and suppression of publica-

tions and communications; arrests, de-

tentions and deportations; control over

ports and transport; appropriation of

property; and authorising the entry

and search of premises, with life im-

prisonment as the maximum penalty.

“It’s hard to predict whether Carrie

Lam will enact the emergency law –

she didn’t deny the possibility ... but at

the same time Hong Kong will face a

huge backlash,” said T, 18, from behind

a gas mask. “I am always worried that I

will be arrested, but none of our five

demands have been met.”

A demonstrator is

detained by police

officers while

others set a road

barrier alight as the

city’s elite ‘raptor’

police unit began to

squeeze in on them

KAI PFAFFENBACH/REUTERS; LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

‘For as long

as but 100 of

us remain,

never will we

on any

condition

remain

under

Chinese

tyranny’

‘I am always

worried

that I will

be arrested,

but none

of our five

demands

have

been

met’

1.9 million

Number of people facing statelessness

after Assam published the National

Register of Citizens to remove migrants

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