Section:GDN 1N PaGe:4 Edition Date:190812 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 11/8/2019 20:56 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
- The Guardian Monday 12 Aug ust 2019
(^4) News
Renewed violence rocks Hong Kong
as China tells Britain: don’t interfere
Erin Hale Hong Kong
Julia Kollewe
Hong Kong descended into renewed
violence yesterday, with police fi r-
ing teargas at protesters across the
city as mass demonstrations call-
ing for democracy entered their 10th
consecutive week.
The protests came hours after China
attacked the foreign secretary, Dom-
inic Raab, after he spoke to Hong
Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam.
Raab stressed the need for “mean-
ingful political dialogue and a fully
independent investigation into recent
events as a way to build trust” in the
territory, the Foreign Offi ce said.
Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for
the Chinese foreign ministry, said the
days where Britain ruled Hong Kong
were “long gone ... The UK has no
sovereignty, jurisdiction or right of
supervision over Hong Kong. Aff airs
of Hong Kong brook no foreign inter-
ference. It is simply wrong for the
British government to directly call
Hong Kong’s chief executive to exert
pressure.”
Clashes with police were partic-
ularly intense last night compared
with previous days, as riot police fi red
tear gas into a railway station to dis-
perse crowds and were captured on
fi lm beating protesters with batons as
they fl ed down an escalator in another
station.
C a t h a y P a c i fi c has bowed to pres-
sure from China and sacked two
ground crew and suspended a pilot
for “misconduct” in supporting the
protests. The Hong Kong fl ag carrier
airline said it had fi red two ground staff
employees for allegedly leaking the
travel arrangements for a Hong Kong
police football team travelling to the
mainland for a tournament.
The airline also said it had sus-
pended a pilot who took part in
pro-democracy protests, and faces
rioting charges. The pilot was removed
from fl ying duties on 30 July.
Cathay said it would also comply
with a directive from Beijing banning
all of its staff who support Hong Kong’s
protesters from working on fl ights to
the mainland or through its airspace.
China’s aviation regulator has ordered
the airline to hand over identifying
information for staff on mainland-
bound fl ights.
The airline told all staff that it
viewed the demonstrations as “illegal
protests”, and if they took part they
would be banned from fl ights. “Cathay
Pacifi c Group’s operations in mainland
China are key to our business ,” said the
chief executive, Rupert Hogg.
Protesters in protective masks and
goggles moved back and forth across
the city’s subway system last night as
police pushed crowds back from one
neighbourhood to the next. Chants
such as “ Liberate Hong Kong, the rev-
olution of our time” rang out as they
fi led into escalators alongside com-
muters and baffl ed tourists.
“They sacrifi ce themselves,” an
admiring bystander said as groups
of young protesters crowded into
‘High alert’
Protests and
clashes the
new normal
Lily Kuo
Hong Kong
I
t was the third night in a
row that Biyanca Chu’s
neighbourhood, Wong Tai Sin ,
a working -class residential
district in Hong Kong, had
been taken over by police
and protesters. The ground was
littered with plastic bottles, broken
umbrellas and tear gas canisters as
the two sides faced off.
Chu, 22, slight in an all -black
outfi t, climbed over a road barrier,
took off her baseball cap and slipped
a gas mask on. “Are you ready to
go to the frontline?” she asked her
companions, and they disappeared.
Within half an hour, the police began
fi ring rounds of tear gas and rubber
bullets, charging and making arrests,
until the group dispersed.
Such clashes are the new normal
for Hong Kong. Home to 7 million
people , it was once considered one
of the safest cities in the region, but
demonstrations triggered in June
by an extradition bill that would
send suspects to mainland China
have turned into a broader anti-
government movement.
For residents, the protests
have not only changed their way
of life but also how they see theirgovernment and the people charged
with protecting the city – a loss of
trust so complete, say experts, that
the Hong Kong government may not
be able to govern eff ectively again.
“The government has lost the
trust of a whole generation,” said Ma
Ngok , an associate professor at t he
Chinese University of Hong Kong.
“The movement may die down
because of the amount of force or
prosecution, but that doesn’t mean
the government is winning over
these people, especially the young
people. They will be angry at both
the government and police for
years to come.”
Marches and rallies have long
been a part of Hong Kong civic
life, but the past two months have
represented a major departure.The protests have also become
more violent in recent weeks. Both
protesters and police have grown
more exhausted and angry, and
neither show signs of backing down.
Hong Kong has grown quiet as
more and more people stay in.
Rumours consistently circulate that
suspected gangsters are gathering to
attack protesters and bystanders – as
was the case in a train station in July
and at later protests.
Gary Wong, 36, who owns a cafe
in the Western district near where
several confrontations between
protesters and police have taken
place, has noticed that he now says
“be safe” to his customers when
they leave.
Wong and his girlfriend are trying
to take a break from the protests.▲ Police arrest protesters at the Tai
Koo station yesterday in one of the
clashes that have become a regular
occurrence PHOTOGRAPH: JEFF CHENG/APhis subway carriage, bound for the
Kowloon peninsula to reinforce a
police-protester standoff. “What they
gain is for [all of] us.”
Police said one offi cer had been
injured by a petrol bomb hurled by
a protester in Tsim Sha Tsui and that
bricks had also been hurled at offi cers.
While many in Hong Kong appear
to support the protesters, Carrie Lam
has maintained that protesters are
largely violent fringe elements who
have taken advantage of a civil diso-
bedience movement.
Beijing has also signalled that it is
losing patience with the protests. Its
Hong Kong aff airs department has spo-
ken to the media twice in recent weeks
to warn protesters that their actions
will not be tolerated.
Protests began in Hong Kong in
early June when Lam attempted to
push through a legislative bill that
would have allowed for residents to
appear before criminal courts in main-
land China.
Many residents saw the bill as a
wedge issue that would lead to their
loss of civil and political rights, prom-
ised until 2047 under the “one country,
two systems” agreement.
The bill prompted the largest dem-
onstrations since Hong Kong returned
to Chinese rule in 1997, but Lam has
steadfastly refused to meet any
demands beyond a promise that the
bill is now “suspended ”.▲ Dominic
Raab, whose
conversation
with Hong Kong’s
chief executive,
Carrie Lam,
angered ChinaThey meet after work, sometimes
crying out of anger after reading the
news of the latest clashes, but also
stay at home more.
“You feel weird going to a movie
now. It’s like, what are you doing?
Why aren’t you out supporting
them? People are out there getting
tear gassed. You feel guilty,” he said.
For the protesters, life has
changed in more dramatic ways.
Relationships with their families
have frayed. Some have quit their
jobs to focus on the protests full
time. Chu, who recently had to skip
a university exam because she was
so exhausted, says it is hard for her
to relate to friends who are not as
committed to the cause.
Many now carry gas masks at
night. Almost every day, notices
are sent out through the Telegram
messaging app alerting that certain
users have been detained and likely
compromised, and all conversations
with them should be deleted.
“You are always on high alert. This
is not a game,” said one organiser
of media campaigns directed at
international audiences, who asked
to only give his name as Chris.
Few locals pause these days at the
sight of groups of protesters, dressed
in all black, their faces covered by
duct-taped goggles and face masks.
Protesters are also thinking of new
ways to demonstrate that don’t
involve direct confl ict with the
police or risk arrest.
“What can we do in the future?
Keep going to police stations and
yelling? This isn’t going to do
anything except help us express our
feelings,” said Chu. She hopes soon
the protesters won’t have to hide.
She quotes a saying circulating
on the demonstrators’ online
forums : “I hope for the day when
we can gather outside the legislative
building, take off our masks, face
each other and celebrate.”‘The government
has lost the trust of a
whole generation ...
they will be angry at
the government and
police for years’Ma Ngok
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