Demonstrations in Hong Kong on the 70th anniversary of Communist China
The protest movement in Hong Kong, today, began new demonstrations, days before the 70th anniversary of the establishment of communist China next Tuesday in celebrations expected to be noisy, and it seems that pro-democracy demonstrators in the semi-autonomous city are determined to influence The celebrations, four months after a protest, repeatedly witnessed violence, AFP reported.
Thousands of people gathered in a square of the former British colony this evening to hear the testimony of activists who had recently been arrested, complaining that lawyers and doctors had not been allowed to visit them in a detention centre near the Chinese border, and organizers were counting on movements for four days until next Tuesday.
New clashes appear to have taken place after police decided, for security reasons, to prevent a protest march scheduled for the anniversary, AFP reported.
The protesters largely ignored previous bans and participated in demonstrations in which extremist activists threw stones and Molotov cocktails at riot police who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons.
The former British colony has been experiencing its worst crisis since its return to China in 1997, with almost daily movements and demonstrations denouncing the decline of freedoms and increased Chinese interventions. For 79 days, they set up camp in front of parliament and clashed with the police.
The movement, which, like the current one, staged large demonstrations, protesting the use of tear gas by police against a limited student gathering, and activists using umbrellas to take shelter, hence the name given to their movement, according to AFP.
Compared to the current 16-week-old action that saw violent clashes between protesters and police, the 2014 action was more peaceful, and five years later, the failure of peaceful action and continued police violence prompted pro-democracy activists to change their pattern of action.