The Guardian - 27.08.2019

Section:GDN 1N PaGe:21 Edition Date:190827 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 26/8/2019 18:55 cYanmaGentaYellowb

Tuesday 27 August 2019 The Guardian •

World^21

Dozens arrested as Hong Kong

police defend use of live round

Verna Yu and Erin Hale
Hong Kong

Dozens of people including a child aged
12 were arrested over the weekend in
Hong Kong, police said yesterday, as
they defended fi ring a live round for
the fi rst time since pro-democracy
demonstrations started in June.
Offi cers said they arrested 86 people
for off ences including unlawful assem-
bly, possession of off ensive weapons
and assaulting police.
Sunday’s protests were the scene of
the fi ercest clashes yet between police
and demonstrators since violence
escalated over an extradition bill to
allow people from Hong Kong to be
sent to mainland China for trial.
Police fi red water cannon and tear-
gas in running battles with protesters,

that the government and the police

needed to take responsibility, the

former for introducing the extradition

legislation and the latter for what they

said was selective enforcement of the

law targeting government opponents.

Kwok Ka-ki of the Civic party

blamed Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie

Lam. He called her creation of a plat-

form for dialogue a delay tactic rather

than an attempt to resolve the confl ict.

“She is the one who should shoulder

all the responsibility, and now she is

trying to get away from all the respon-

sibility and shifting the focus to the

so-called platform,” he said.

Clashes broke out after hundreds

of thousands of people braved rain

on Sunday to stage a peaceful, police-

sanctioned march in Tsuen Wan. The

scenes of worsening unrest provoked

anger in China, where a People’s Daily

blog condemned protesters who

removed a national fl ag at the rally

before the march and trampled on

it. “Such provocation challenges the

national dignity and hurts the feelings

of 1.4 billion Chinese ... It should pay a

cost,” the People’s Daily said.

The Chinese government-aligned

Global Times , meanwhile, hit out

at western media for its “biased”

coverage of the protests, particularly

accounts of how the Hong Kong police

offi cer fi red a warning shot.

Some protesters said they were

resorting to violence because the

government had not responded to

their peaceful demonstrations. After

almost three months of continuous

protests, many demonstrators said

they remained determined in their

fi ght for political rights.

Demonstrators have fi ve demands:

the complete withdrawal of the

extradition bill; the setting up of an

independent body to investigate

police violence; a halt to the character-

isation of protests as riots; an amnesty

for those arrested; and a resumption

of political reform to allow the free

election of Hong Kong’s leader and

legislature.

Thai monarchy

publishes royal

consort images

Agence France-Press

Bangkok

Thailand’s palace released a biography

of the king’s newly anointed royal con-

sort yesterday, including candid and

action-packed images of her aiming a

weapon , piloting a plane, and prepar-

ing to parachute.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn marked

his 67th birthday in July by bestow ing

the title of chao khun phra, or noble

consort, on the 34-year-old former

army nurse Sineenat Wongvajirapa-

kdi. She is the fi rst woman to receive

the title in nearly a century.

The images and details provide an

unusually intimate glimpse into the

private lives of the powerful, ultra-

wealthy and inscrutable monarchy,

which is protected by a royal insult law

that carries a maximum sentence of 15

years in prison per count.

They show Sineenat in camoufl age

fatigues, taking part in military drills,

fl ying a small plane and laughing at

a table with the king, both wearing

casual clothes. In another she is in tra-

ditional Thai dress and standing next

to him, holding his hand.

Born in the northern province of

Nan, she graduated from the Royal

Thai army nursing college, trained as

a pilot and served in the king’s royal

bodyguard unit, reaching the rank of

major-general.

A cycling and aviation enthusiast

who spends much of his time abroad

in Germany, the king was crowned in

May in an elaborate three-day cere-

mony that Sineenat participated in.

The ceremony took place a few

days after the unexpected announce-

ment that Vajiralongkorn had married

Queen Suthida Vajiralongkorn na

Ayudhya , a former fl ight attendant

and deputy commander of the mon-

arch’s security detail.

Indonesia reveals plan to move

capital from Jakarta to Borneo

Jonathan Watts
Global environment editor

Indonesia has announced plans to
move its capital from the climate-
threatened megalopolis of Jakarta to
the sparsely populated island of Bor-
neo, which is home to some of the
world’s greatest tropical rainforests.
President Joko Widodo said the
$33bn (£27bn) relocation was ne eded
because the burden on Jakarta was

“too heavy”, but environmentalists

said the move, if not carefully handled ,

would result in fl eeing one ecological

disaster only to create another.

A part from dire pollution and traf-

fi c congestion, the coastal city suff ers

from severe subsidence, which makes

it vulnerable to rising sea levels.

Poor urban planning on land that

was originally swamp, plus unregu-

lated draining of aquifers, has left 40%

of Jakarta under sea level.

While huge new sea defences are

planned, Widodo has expressed frus-

tration at the slow pace of progress.

The relocation aims to move Jak-

arta’s administrative functions 600

miles to Kalimantan , the Indonesian

portion of the island of Borneo (which

is shared with Malaysia and Brunei).

Jakarta will continue to be a commer-

cial and fi nancial centre, with most of

its 10 million residents likely to stay.

If parliament approves, construc-

tion would begin next year on a plot

of 40,000 hectares (99,0000 acres).

By 2024, the government expects to

start transferring some of its 1.5 mil-

lion civil servants.

Widodo has stressed that the relo-

cation will put the capital in the centre

of Indonesia’s archipelago of 17,000

islands, and address inequality.

“The location is very strategic ,” he

said. “The burden Jakarta is holding

right now is too heavy as the centre of

governance, business, fi nance, trade

and services .”

Jakarta has sucked people and

money to the island of Java, which

is now home to 60% of the country’s

population and more than half of its

economic activity.

The government wants to build a

some of whom threw bricks. Six offi c-

ers drew their pistols and one offi cer

fi red a warning shot into the air, police

said in a statement.

Mak Chin-ho , an assistant police

commissioner, said violence by

demonstrators had led to officers

responding with force.

“We have seen an increase in

the intensity and extensiveness of

violence used by protesters. Their

radical acts have intensified with

more dangers and sometimes deadly

weapons used including bricks, metal

posts, long sticks and petrol bombs,”

Mak said.

Hong Kong’s government also con-

demned the protesters, saying police

would take “relentless” action to bring

criminals to justice.

Pro-democracy members of Hong

Kong’s legislative council countered

Plastic

fantastic

An installation

made by the

Japanese artist

Hiroshi Fuji

from nearly

100,000 pieces

of unwanted

toys from

Japan and

Thailand is

displayed as

part of the

Jurassic Plastic

exhibition in

Bangkok.

PHOTOGRAPH:
NARONG SANGNAK/EPA

1.5m

The number of civil servants who

are currently stationed in Jakarta.

Transfers are likely to begin in 2024

▼ One of the photographs of Sineenat

Wongvajirapakdi released yesterday

smart, green city on state land near

existing urban centres and has prom-

ised the environmental impact will

be positive. “We will not disturb any

existing protected forest ; instead we

will rehab ilitate it,” a planning minis-

ter was reported as saying.

But conservationists fear new pres-

sures on rainforest habitat species,

such as the orangutan. “The govern-

ment must make sure that the new

capital is not built in a conservation

or protected area,” Jasmine Putri, a

Greenpeace campaigner , told AFP.

Senior offi cials vowed to learn from

other countries that have moved their

capitals, such as Australia (to Can-

berra in 1927), Malaysia (to Putrajaya

in 1999), and Brazil (to Brasilia in 1960).

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