how the government has handled nine consecutive weeks of disruption. Mike Ng, an employee of a non-
profit organisation, said he was dismayed at Ms Lam’s inability to respond to both protest demands and
chastise increasingly violent police tactics. Ms Lam has largely blamed protesters for the clashes, who she
characterised as largely violent and using ongoing discontent to “conceal their ulterior motives”.
Mr Ng alleged that Hong Kong’s leader had turned a “blind eye to abuse of power from the Hong Kong
police” including widely shared videos of officers beating protesters while in other cases riot police have
been seen to remove ID numbers form their uniforms to avoid being identified later by the public. Ms Lam
said she would be resolute in maintaining law and order.
They claim they want a revolution and to restore Hong Kong. These actions have far exceeded their original
political demands
Connie Fung, a finance worker who also attended the demonstration, said she was upset that the violent
tactics of some had overshadowed the majority of protesters, who have been demonstrating peacefully. “We
don’t agree with what the government is saying. They are only showing the bad side of protesters. It’s fair
there are protesters using violence to express their opinions but that’s not the whole part of the story,” Ms
Fung said.
“Not all of them are using violence. It’s not fair what the government is presenting and they are not
responding publicly to what we are asking for,” she added. “We are asking for [the] complete removal of the
extradition law, which the government refuses to do.”
In a sign that not all residents support protests, two vehicles rammed protest barricades in two districts, in
apparent defiance of demonstrations, according to videos shared on social media. Protesters have previously
been attacked in outlying districts, including last month in Yuen Long, where protesters were attacked by
men believed to be linked to Hong Kong’s triads.
The piece of legislation that sparked the protests would have allowed for the city to extradite suspected
criminals to China. While the former British colony returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, it was allowed
to keep its highly regarded and independent legal system, along with semi-autonomy, until 2047.
Ms Lam championed the bill as necessary to close legal “loopholes” but unwittingly ignited the largest mass
demonstrations in Hong Kong since 2014’s pro-democracy protests.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been drawn to the streets even as police continue to escalate tactics,
from tear gas to pepper spray and rubber bullets, with indications that water cannons will soon be deployed.
Earlier yesterday, hundreds of flights were cancelled or severely delayed at Hong Kong International
Airport. An estimated 250 ground crew and 1,216 cabin crew of Cathay Pacific, the city’s flagship airline,
went on strike, the group Save Hong Kong said.
Trains were also brought to a standstill across the city early yesterday morning as protesters prevented
them from moving forward, with a number of train staff expected to take a sick day or annual leave to
participate in the strike.