HONG KONG – Hong Kong police arrested at least 86 other people on suspicion of an unauthorized demonstration on China’s National Day after crowds piled up on the streets of a popular grocery shopping district and other neighborhoods chanting slogans for democracy.
Among those arrested were four district councillors, police said in a Facebook post, who said other people were arrested after ignoring repeated warnings of dispersing on Thursday.
Online calls suggested that others sign up for protests and crowds accumulated in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay grocery shopping district, while others shouted “Dissolve the Police” and “Free Hong Kong, the Revolution of Our Time,” a popular campaign. slogan of democracy that was banned by the Hong Kong government for alleged secessionist feelings. 74 They were arrested in Causeway Bay.
A strong police presence outscayed the protesters at the site.
Additionally, 20 other people were also sanctioned for violating social distancing regulations, which lately prohibit public gatherings of more than 4 other people.
The national holiday, which celebrates the founding of the People’s Republic of China, has become a day of protest in Hong Kong for those who oppose Beijing’s development over the semi-autonomous city. Large-scale demonstrations are prohibited by restrictions on social estinement. due to coronavirus.
In the afternoon, the police cordoned off parts of the domain and searched the streets; on several occasions, they displayed warning banners suggesting that the protesters disperse, saying they were taking part in an illegal rally.
Protests against the governments of Hong Kong and mainland China intensified last year, and Beijing suppressed expressions of anti-government sentiment in the city with a new national security law that came into force on June 30.
The law prohibits subversive, secessionist and terrorist activities, such as collusion with foreign powers to interfere in the internal affairs of the city. The United States and Britain accuse China of violating the city’s freedoms, and the United States has imposed sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese government officials by law.
At a National Day reception, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said that “stability has been restored in society while national security has been safeguarded” under the new law.
Lam accused some foreign governments of having “double standards” and of charging unjustified fees that oppose the government’s application of the new law.
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