The Guardian - 31.08.2019

• The Guardian Sat urday 31 Aug ust 2019

36

Tania Branigan

Hong Kong

J

oshua Wong was serving

a prison sentence for his

role in the 2014 “umbrella

movement” when Hong

Kong’s current protests

broke out.

“Agnes [Chow] visited me and

said: ‘You know, on 17 June, when

you are released, the extradition bill

will already have passed,’ ” Wong

said in an interview earlier this

week, before he was briefl y detained

by authorities. “In fact, 2 million

people went on the street.”

The 22-year-old, the secretary

general of pro-democracy group

Demosist ō , said no one could

have imagined the large -scale and

enduring turmoil that has ensued in

Chinese territory.

“They [the authorities] cannot

govern Hong Kong any more. Five

years ago, we said youngsters

were standing on the frontlines

and parents were criticising them.

But baby boomers have been very

supportive this time. People might

not agree with all the behaviour

of the protest ers, but everyone is

asking what’s the reason for tear gas

in residential areas, in roads where

there aren’t even protest ers?”

He pointed to a poll showing that

a bout four -fi fths of the population

want an independent inquiry into

the police response and that almost

as many want the government to

completely withdraw the bill.

Interview ‘Of course they’re trying to

scare people. But it also scares the world’

Activists charged

in Hong Kong as

authorities deploy

hardline tactics

Lily Kuo and Erin Hale
Hong Kong

Police in Hong Kong arrested dozens
of prominent pro-democracy activists
yesterday, marking another phase in
government eff orts to stop the mass
protests that have thrown the city into
months of political crisis.
Politicians and activists including
Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow – former
student leaders of the pro-democracy
protests in 2014 – were among those
arrested in the crackdown. The pair
were charged with unlawful assembly
and released on bail. Police said 28
people were arrested.
Critics say the mass arrests on the
eve of a major rally planned for today
were aimed at dissuading protesters
who have taken to the streets over the
last 12 weekends.
“This is part and parcel of a new
round of oppression against the
movement,” said Kenneth Chan, asso-
ciate professor at the department of
government and international studies
at Hong Kong Baptist University. “The
arrest of other known leaders is meant
to intimidate others.”
The protests, triggered in June
by proposed legislation that would
allow suspects to be sent to mainland
China, have evolved into a broader
pro-democracy challeng e to Beijing’s
authority over the city.
The Hong Kong government now
appears to be escalating its tactics
against protesters who have shown
few signs of backing down. Beijing has
reportedly ordered Hong Kong’s chief
executive ,Carrie Lam, not to concede
to any of the protesters’ demands.
In recent weeks, Lam has hinted
her government could use a colonial-
era law that would give her sweeping
powers to impose measures including
curfews and an internet shutdown in
order to restore public order.
“They have run out of options, given
they don’t want to give concessions.
So they try any way they can think of
including arrest and emergency laws,”

said Lo Kin-hei, the vice-chair man of

the Democratic party.

China’s warnings towards Hong

Kong have grown increasingly omi-

nous and it has carried out several

military exercises across the border.

Experts say military intervention is

China’s last option and that it has

chosen instead to rely on the Hong

Kong authorities to end the protests.

“ It is fairly clear Beijing has decided

to adopt a hardline tactic, using the

Hong Kong police, encouraging

tougher tactics against protesters

and prosecuting them,” said Adam

Ni, a China researcher at Macquarie

University in Australia.

Observers say Chinese and Hong

Kong authorities are anxious to end

the protests before 1 October, when

China celebrates 70 years of the found-

ing of the People’s Republic of China,

a politically signifi cant holiday for the

Chinese Communist party.

The protest movement has been

largely leaderless – in part to prevent

authorities from targeting individuals.

Neither Wong nor Chow are consid-

ered key fi gures this time. Andy Chan,

the head of a pro-independence party

banned last year , was detained on

Thursday at the Hong Kong airport.

“They are symbols of what the

protesters are fi ghting for. It’s a very

visible signal to the protesters that

there will be a cost for you, that we

will keep arresting these people who

continue to protest and resist,” said Ni.

Democracy advocates are bracing

for more arrests in the days to come.

Activists publicly involved in the

protests have in some cases been phys-

ically attacked. On Thursday, Jimmy

Sham, the convener of the Civil Human

Rights Front , a group that organised

today’s march , was attacked inside a

restaurant by two masked men wield-

ing baseball bats and knives. Another

protester, Max Chung, who organised

a march in Yuen Long last month, was

beaten by four men wielding rods.

The organisers of today’s march,

which police had banned, called off

the event yesterday over concerns

about mass arrests of participants,

but groups of defi ant protesters have

called for people to come out on to the

street regardless.

“Hong Kongers are not afraid.

More suppression just leads to more

opposition,” one user commented

on a protest forum. Another wrote:

“Even if they bring the tanks out, I

will be there.”

Inside the Guardian Page 57 

‘This is a new round

of oppression. The

arrests are meant to

intimidate others’

Kenneth Chan
University professor

anigan

shua Wong was serving

prison sentence for his

ole in the 201 4 “umbrella

ovement” when Hong

ong’s current protests

roke out.

[Chow] visited me and

know, on 17 June, when

eased, the extradition bill

y have passed,’ ” Wong

nterview earlier this

ore he was briefl y detained

ties. “In fact, 2 million

nt on the street.”

year-old, the secretary

pro-democracy group

, said no one could

have imagi

enduring tu

Chinese ter

“They [t

govern Hon

years ago, w

were stand

and parents

But baby bo

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notagree w

of the prote

asking wha

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there aren’t

He point

a bout four -

want an ind

the police r

as many wa

completely

Left eyes are covered to

commemorate a protester

injured in an earlier clash

Hong Kong

pro-democracy

protests

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