From the BBC:
“Hong Kong: Protesters clash
with police over delayed elections”
Police in Hong Kong have fired
pepper-spray balls at crowds protesting against a government decision to delay
legislative elections in the territory. Nearly 300 people were arrested at
Sunday's unauthorised demonstration. The elections had been due on 6 September,
but the government postponed them by a year saying it was necessary amid a rise
in coronavirus infections. The opposition is accusing the government of using
the pandemic as a pretext to stop people from voting. Opposition activists had
hoped to obtain a majority in the Legislative Council (LegCo), capitalising on
anger at Beijing's imposition of a controversial national security law in Hong
Kong, and fears that the territory's freedoms are being eroded. Hong Kong, a
former British colony, was handed back to China in 1997 under an agreement
meant to guarantee a high degree of autonomy for 50 years. Pro-democracy
candidates had made unprecedented gains in last year's district council
elections, winning 17 out of 18 councils.
What's the latest from
Sunday's protests? Thousands of
people took to the streets of Hong Kong to mark the day the elections had been
due to be held. Chanting "Give me back my right to vote!",
groups of protesters walked a short distance before they were confronted by
heavily armed riot police. At least 289 people were arrested, local
media report. "I want my right to vote! Shame [on the government]
for postponing the elections!" Leung Kwok-hung, one of those detained on
Sunday, was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post website. Earlier,
a high-profile opposition activist, Tam Tak-chi, was detained, accused of
making speeches that could incite hatred and contempt of the government. He
was held by police working to enforce the Chinese territory's new strict
national security law, which was imposed by Beijing in June and criminalises
many forms of political expression.
^ The Communist authorities continue
to crack-down hard on the freedom-loving people in Hong Kong and break their
1997 Handover Agreement. ^
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