Hong Kong protesters arrested
July 2, 2014
Police over 500 people were arrested for unlawful assembly and preventing police from carrying out their duties, after a huge rally that reached its peak on Tuesday (01.07.2014).
Police estimated that 98,600 people joined the march, while organizers said 510,000 turned out, while Hong Kong University researchers put the number at between 154,000 and 172,000.
The arrests came after the rally, when two student groups held a sit-in overnight to occupy a street in the city's financial district, vowing to remain until 8 a.m. Police moved in early Wednesday to remove the protesters one by one, eventually taking away several hundred people.
Some went willingly but those that remained linked arms and refused to leave, many of them lying down, as police announced they would use "necessary force" unless they boarded designated vehicles.
Other protesters held a similar sit-in at government headquarters to await Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's arrival at work.
Peaceful crowds carried banners and posters urging democracy, with some protesters chanting, "Our own government, our own choice." Others called for Leung to step down, while thousands of police kept watch.
Anger at China
July 1, a public holiday that marks the handover of Hong Kong from London to Beijing, has become an annual day of protest, but this year demonstrators were particularly provoked by a policy document released last month by China's cabinet, that said Hong Kong's autonomy is not inherent but is authorized by the central government.
Anger at mainland China has never been greater after Beijing warned recently it holds the ultimate authority over the freewheeling capitalist enclave despite agreeing to a Basic Law that gave the city a high degree of autonomy for 50 years after British rule ended in 1997.
Tuesday's rally came after nearly 800,000 people took part in an informal referendum - which Beijing condemned as "illegal and invalid" - calling for voters to be allowed a say in the nomination of candidates.
Leung tried to strike a conciliatory note by saying his government would do its best to forge an agreement on implementing universal suffrage. China has promised to let Hong Kong residents vote for their next leader in 2017, but it says candidates must be approved by a nomination committee, which democracy advocates fear will mean only pro-Beijing figures are allowed to stand.
Under the "one country, two systems" agreement reached at the 1997 handover, Hong Kong enjoys liberties not seen on the mainland, including free speech and the right to protest, but there are growing fears these are being eroded.
bk/jr (AFP, AP)