Section:GDN 1N PaGe:4 Edition Date:190815 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 14/8/2019 20:40 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
- The Guardian Thursday 15 Aug ust 2019
(^4) News
Lily Kuo
Hong Kong
Satellite photos published yesterday
appear to show armoured personnel
carriers belonging to China’s paramili-
tary People’s Armed Police parked in a
sports stadium in the city of Shenzhen,
as the US expressed concern over
apparent Chinese troop movements
at the border with Hong Kong.
The pictures were taken by a US-
based space technology company on
Monday, the same day that Chinese
state media outlets ran videos showing
armoured personnel carriers purport-
edly driving to Shenzhen.
They show 500 or more vehicles
sitting on and around the football
stadium at the Shenzhen Bay sports
centre, just across the harbour from
Hong Kong, which has been rocked by
more than two months of near-daily
pro-democracy demonstrations.
A US state department spokes-
person said yesterday: “The United
States is deeply concerned by reports
of Chinese paramilitary movement
along the Hong Kong border. The
United States strongly urges Beijing
to adhere to its commitments ... to
allow Hong Kong to exercise a high
degree of autonomy.”
Beijing has struck an increas-
ingly belligerent tone in recent days
towards the territory, where protesters
paralysed the airport – a major interna-
tional hub – on Monday and Tuesday.
China’s Hong Kong and Macao aff airs
office described those protests as
“near-terrorist acts”.
The ruling Communist party’s offi -
cial People’s Daily newspaper said
Hong Kong had reached a critical junc-
ture. “Using the sword of the law to
stop violence and restore order is over-
whelmingly the most important and
urgent task for Hong Kong!” it said.
A protest movement originally
launched in response to a proposed
extradition law is now in its 10th week,
having broadened to encompass wider
pro-democracy aims.
Activists turned their attention to
the economically vital airport after
weeks of huge peaceful rallies – and
increasingly violent clashes between
hardliners and police – failed to win
any concessions from the city’s leaders
or Beijing. By yesterday only a few
dozen protesters remained at the air-
port in a sanctioned area after the
airport authority obtained an interim
injunction against demonstrators.
On Tuesday night protesters had
blocked travellers from checking in
for their fl ights, clashed with police,
were trying to remind their colleagues
not to resort to violence. “Don’t let
hatred consume any of us,” she said,
quoting a poster circulating online.
Police condemned the protesters
and said a large group had “harassed
and assaulted a visitor and a jour-
nalist”. Five people were detained,
bringing the total number of people
arrested since the protests began in
June to more than 600, police said.
Beijing has been apparently reluc-
tant to send in police or army units
from the mainland or to mobilise the
People’s Liberation Army (PLA) garri-
son in Hong Kong to quell the unrest,
perhaps mindful of the devastating
eff ect that would have on the terri-
tory’s reputation as a safe and stable
place to invest in, and as an indica-
tion of the Communist party’s failure
to win over the hearts and minds of
the city’s 7.3 million residents, 22 years
after the former British colony was
handed over to China.
It would also be a shocking reminder
of the PLA’s bloody crackdown on
pro-democracy demonstrations in
Tiananmen Square 30 years ago , which
remains a taboo subject in China but
is memoriali sed with a massive rally
and march each year in Hong Kong.
Mainland China is believed to have
already dispatched offi cers to fortify
the ranks of the Hong Kong police, and
may also have planted decoys among
the protesters in order to encourage
more violent acts in an attempt to turn
ordinary Hong kongers against the pro-
test movement.
Associated Press contributed to this
report
Hong Kong: satellite photos
‘show Chinese mobilisation’
and tied down two men whom dem-
onstrators suspected of being spies.
As the airport struggled to return to
normal yesterday, protesters bowed
their heads to passengers and held
signs of apology. “Sorry for the incon-
venience. We are fi ghting for the future
of our home ,” read one banner.
Protesters appeared to be engaged
in soul-searching over the previous
day’s clashes. Online demonstrators
debated how and when to apologise
to the public, while some drafted a
code of conduct that included a rule
not to “just attack” people suspected
of being moles.
“Yesterday the protesters went too
far,” said Biyanca Chu, a protester who
was at the airport. Chu said protesters
US rapper
found guilty
of assault over
Stockholm
street brawl
Jon Henley
Ben Quinn
A Stockholm court found A$AP Rocky
guilty of assault yesterday but spared
him prison in a case that outraged the
US rapper’s fans and sparked a dip-
lomatic row when Donald Trump
questioned the fairness of Sweden’s
judicial system.
The court also convicted two mem-
bers of A$AP Rocky’s entourage of
the same crime in connection with a
street brawl in the Swedish capital on
30 June, but said the assault was “not
of such a serious nature that a prison
sentence must be chosen”.
The platinum-selling artist, whose
real name is Rakim Mayers, and his
bodyguards David Rispers Jr and
Bladimir Corniel argued that they had
been acting in self-defence.
Mayers told the court they had tried
to avoid a confrontation with two men
who he said were following them. One
of the pair, the rapper alleged, picked a
fi ght with one of his bodyguards.
A full-scale brawl ensued during
which the victim, Mustafa Jafari, 19,
a Swedish resident of Afghan origin,
suff ered cuts to his arms, legs and head
and a fractured rib.
The court rejected the claim of self-
defence , fi nding that the three men
“assaulted the victim by hitting and
kicking him as he lay on the ground”
and that Mayers, 30, “also threw [him]
to the ground and stepped on his arm”.
It ordered them to pay Jafari 12,
kronor (£1,000) and handed down con-
ditional sentences, meaning they face
no prison sentence in Sweden unless
they commit a similar off ence in the
country again.
The three spent nearly a month in
detention but were released at the end
of their trial on 2 August, pending the
verdict, and returned to the US.
But Mayers’ lawyer, Slobodan
Jovicic, said his client was “incredi-
bly disappointed” by the verdict. “We
had hoped for an acquittal,” he said,
adding that Mayers had not decided
whether to appeal.
The state prosecutor had demanded
a six-month sentence in the case,
which sparked fury among Mayers’
fans and infl amed international ten-
sions after celebrities including Kim
Kardashian West and Justin Bieber
backed a #JusticeForRocky campaign
and Trump publicly demanded
Mayers’ release.
▲ A$AP Rocky, real name Rakim
Mayers, said he acted in self-defence
‘The United States is
deeply concerned by
reports of Chinese
paramilitary
movement along the
Hong Kong border’
Spokesperson
US Department of State
▼ The photographs apparently
show military vehicles parked in
Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre
PHOTOGRAPH: MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/EPA
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