The Hong Kong Police on Sunday said they arrested 29 protestors after overnight demonstrations against the Chinese government, Reuters reported. The protestors were detained for allegedly possessing “offensive weapons”, assaulting police officers and unlawful assembly.
Clashes broke out in the industrial district of Kwun Tong as protestors threw petrol bombs and bricks at the police. Four MTR subway stations were closed following the violence. Some protestors also threw Molotov cocktails and tore up lampposts equipped with surveillance cameras, the news agency reported. The police fired tear-gas shells to disperse the demonstrators.
The protests continued on Sunday. “Reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our era!” the protestors chanted, according to The Guardian. “I want genuine universal suffrage! Retract the evil law!” Moret han a hundred protestors faced off against a dozen riot police personnel on Sunday afternoon.
“The more the government ignores us, the more we have to come out,” Peggy Tai, a protestor, told the newspaper. “Police violence has stepped up and teargas seems so commonplace now.”
The police used water cannons to disperse protestors after clashes in the district of Tsuen Wan following a rally at a football stadium, AFP reported. The water cannons were used after tear gas failed to scare away the demonstrators. There were no reports of any injuries.
“However bleak our future is, we are trying to express ourselves rationally,” a man identified as Peter told the agency before the clashes began. “We have faith in ourselves and we have faith in our city that some day our demands will be answered.” The MTR stations near the scene of protests remained shut.
A second protest on Sunday afternoon, attended by relatives of police personnel, criticised the government for leaving officers to handle the brunt of the crisis. It also called for an independent inquiry into police action against protestors.
The protests
The protests had initially been organised to oppose a bill that would have allowed extraditions to China. They have now evolved into a backlash against the city’s government and its political masters in Beijing.
The government has refused to accept any of the protestors’ main demands, which include a complete withdrawal of the extradition bill besides an independent inquiry into the use of excessive police force against the demonstrators. They are also demanding the resignation of the city’s leader Carrie Lam.
Earlier this month, Beijing had claimed that criminals and agitators were stirring violence, encouraged by foreign powers such as Britain and the United States.
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