Hong Kong Police Shoot Pepper Balls At Protesters Oppose Election Delay, New Law

HONG KONG: Police fired pepper balls at protesters in Hong Kong on Sunday (September 6) as hundreds took to the streets to demonstrate against the postponement of legislative elections and a new national security law imposed by China.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam postponed the Sept. 6 elections for seats on the Legislative Council of the Asian financial center for a year in July due to a surge in coronavirus cases.

The move dealt a blow to the opposition that had hoped to win a historic majority in the council, where only half of the seats are directly elected and the other half are appointed members who mostly support Beijing.

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“Today is supposedly our voting day, we have to resist to fight for our vote,” said a 70-year-old woman surnamed Wong as she marched with other protesters.

The poll would have been the former British colony’s first official vote since Beijing imposed new security legislation in late June. The government insists there was no political motive behind the delay.

Thousands of police officers were stationed around the bustling Kowloon Peninsula as protesters waved banners and chanted popular anti-government slogans such as “free Hong Kong.”

These slogans are now prohibited by the new security law. Police said they arrested at least 90 people for illegal gatherings, in a notice on their Facebook page.

Several known activists were arrested during the rally, including Figo Chan, deputy convener of the Civil Human Rights Front and former lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, also known as “Long Hair,” according to a post on Chan’s Facebook page.

Anti-government demonstrations have decreased this year mainly due to limits on group meetings, imposed to counter the spread of the coronavirus, and the security law, which punishes actions that China considers subversive, secessionist, terrorist, or conspiring with foreign forces. .

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Critics say the law aims to stifle dissent in the city, while supporters say it will bring more stability after a year of often violent unrest against the government and against China.

Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a guarantee of autonomy, but critics say the new law undermines that promise and puts the territory on a more authoritarian path.

Advocates for the law say it fills in gaps in national security left by the city’s inability to meet a constitutional requirement to pass such laws on its own.

While street protests have largely lost momentum, anti-government and anti-Beijing sentiment persists, and China’s offer to conduct mass coronavirus tests for Hong Kong residents prompted calls for a boycott amid public distrust. .

Authorities have cited coronavirus fears of restricting gatherings, which are currently limited to two people, and police have rejected protest requests in recent months.

Hong Kong has reported around 4,800 coronavirus cases since January, much lower than in other major cities around the world. The number of new daily infections has dropped substantially from triple digits in July to single digit today.