Another day, another zig-zagging protest and yet another violent showdown with police.
Hong Kong police today fired teargas and rubber bullets at demonstrators in Tsim Sha Tsui, a popular tourist area lined with luxury shops and hotels, after tens of thousands took to the streets in defiance of increasingly stern warnings from Beijing.
The violence – on the ninth consecutive weekend of protests – erupted not far from where protesters had earlier caused long tailbacks by briefly blocking a cross-border tunnel in Hung Hom.
In the iconic Victoria Harbour, some removed a Chinese flag from its pole and ceremonially flung it into the sea, while another group gathered by a police station in Wong Tai Sin.
This city of 7 million people is facing its worst political crisis since the former British colony was returned to China in 1997.
Demonstrators first gathered to protest a law that would allow the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China but the movement has grown into a wholesale rejection of increasing Chinese influence.
In the sweltering heat of summer, the city feels strained to its limit as train drivers, police and health workers work around the clock.
There are protest signs everywhere you look – on overpasses, shops and building-fronts – while slogans like “Reclaim Hong Kong! Revolution of our time!” have been scrawled on pavements and inside fitting rooms.
On Saturday demonstrators started in a public park in Mongkok, before they spun off the approved march route and spread to different corners of the city
Bus passengers were forced to walk home as vehicles were left bumper-to-bumper by the crowds.
On Saturday protesters looking to join the march, locals trying to get home and tourists keen to do some shopping all asked the Telegraph – clearly identified in a media vest – which direction to go.
AFP
“Where are the protesters?” said Judy Chu, 68, a retiree waiting for the crowds to arrive at a park, the end point of a march. “I was planning to support the protest, but for some reason they aren’t here yet.”
Tired activists sat on the ground sharing snacks and watching online feeds of standoffs in other parts of the city
Even the police can seem confounded as they scramble around the city to protect landmarks, a particular concern for authorities after a radical group of protesters stormed the legislative council building last month.
Crackdowns, when they come, trigger more unrest. The arrest of several protesters including prominent pro-democracy activists this week prompted flash mobs to surround police stations and stop cars passing through. And police have begun conducting random bag and ID checks in subway stations.
One taxi driver, like some keen for the return of normal life, recently grumbled to the Telegraph that the protests would die down once university students “bored” of summer returned to school.
But protests show no sign of waning.
“I brought my daughter, because I want her to understand that she has the right and freedom to express her views,” said Carlos Ng, 41.
“The government officials still haven’t responded; they are just hiding,” said Mandy Cheng, 25, an office clerk, who takes the silence as a sign the movement could succeed.
AP
By now the marches have been going long enough that upcoming rallies are returning to the same neighbourhoods.
“See? Saturday, Mongkok again!” one protester told the Telegraph as she scrolled through her phone to check the schedule.
In preparation for more unrest, the authorities this week tested armoured trucks equipped with water cannons.
China has tried to paint the protesters as unruly thugs and blamed Western nations including the US and UK for sowing discord as a way to weaken Beijing. The central government has also made clear it would deploy the military should Hong Kong authorities request reinforcements.
But none of that – including the threat of the People’s Liberation Army intervening, in a move that would be reminiscent of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown– seems enough to turn the movement back.
“What I know is that I am not used by any of these foreign forces, I come because I am a Hong Kong citizen,” said Monita Leung 60, an office worker.
“I think the Chinese military is just trying to scare people from attending protests with the propaganda. I don’t think they will really do anything.”
Additional reporting by Katy Wong
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