Hong Kong police fire tear gas at crowds near Beijing's office
Written by Millennium on July 28, 2019
Police in Hong Kong have fired tear gas as thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered close to China‘s main representative office, in the latest mass demonstration to hit the financial hub.
Sunday’s rally came after protests over the past two months against a proposed bill that would have allowed suspects to be extradited to mainland China have grown increasingly violent.
A march on Saturday in a rural northern town denouncing a bloody assault the previous weekend by suspected triad gang members ended in turmoil as riot police used tear gas, rubber bullets and sponge grenades to clear the crowds.
On Sunday, a gathering in a park in Hong Kong’s central business district began spilling on to surrounding roads. Black-clad protesters set off in several directions, clogging up major thoroughfares in an apparent attempt to stretch the police by splitting up their marches.
“The police usually surround us and we have nowhere to go. So we adjust our strategy this time. This is much more fluid and flexible,” protester Edward Ng said.
Thousands of people headed east towards the shopping district of Causeway Bay, while another large contingent headed west, towards the Chinese government’s representative office, known as the Central Government Liaison Office.
There, hundreds of riot police blocked activists from advancing towards the building, which had been heavily fortified with water-filled plastic barricades.
A clear plastic shield had been erected around a national emblem above its front doors.
