Hong Kong Extradition Bill Protests

[Randy W]

split from the Developing Democracy in Hong Kong thread on Sept 2

Extradition Bill coverage in that topic began here - http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/46920-developing-democracy-in-hong-kong/page-8?do=findComment&comment=641722

China political posts were left in that topic

This is an ongoing topic - click here for Most Recent Post

from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/2380109355388106/

South China Morning Post

5 hrs ·

Quote

Tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators marched in Hong Kong on April 28, 2019, in protest against a proposed extradition law amendment that would allow fugitive transfers from Taiwan, Macau, and the Chinese mainland.

 

Edited June 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the SCMP - the extradition bill would allow legal extradition between Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China

 

Hong Kong extradition bill: fears over mainland China’s judicial system need to be addressed, says Zhang Xiaoming, Beijing’s top official for the city

• Head of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office was speaking to a Hong Kong delegation on Wednesday
• Dozen Hong Kong legal heavyweights say they are ‘dismayed’ with government’s insistence on pushing through bill

 

 

Opposition to the bill has blown up into a political crisis for Lam’s administration because of serious domestic and international concerns among those who fear the possibility of politically motivated persecution under mainland China's legal system.

. . .

“The oft-repeated assertion that the judges will be gatekeepers is misleading … The proposed new legislation does not give the court power to review [applications for extradition or rendition] and the court would be in no position to do so,” they argued.

. . .

Can the Hong Kong government and courts really resist if Beijing seeks extradition for a political offence?

Tens of thousands have taken to the streets against the bill, and parliaments in foreign countries, including the US and Germany, have raised their concerns.

 

 

[Randy W]

The extradition law is a big deal in Hong Kong

 

"I am here because you can’t trust the Chinese government."

 

Hong Kong on edge as crowds gather for ultimate showdown against controversial extradition bill

• Protest against controversial bill expected to be last roll of the dice for opposition
• Resistance to bill has not relented despite government twice watering it down

 

 

Critics fear the bill, which would allow the transfer of fugitives to jurisdictions Hong Kong lacks an agreement with, including mainland China, would leave people vulnerable to unfair trials across the border and deal another blow to the “one country, two systems” guiding principle under which the city is governed.

Tensions have escalated in recent weeks as people from all walks of life have spoken out against the proposal. Petitions against the bill emerged with one High Court judge risking his career by signing one, thousands of lawyers staged a silent march and several chambers of commerce have voiced concern. Two attempts to water down the bill have failed to dilute the opposition to it.

Follow our live blog below to keep up to date on the march, which will set off from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay at 3pm and end at government headquarters in Admiralty.

 

 

Edited June 9, 2019 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Estimates are now topping 500,000

 

Hong Kong extradition march turnout bigger than the 500,000 who protested against national security law in 2003, organisers say

• Some crowd estimates top 500,000 for what some called the ultimate extradition showdown
• Seven arrests, pepper spray but no major violence as march nears Tamar

 

 

 

[Randy W]

from the NY Times - Great Firewall tactics hit Hong Kong

 

Chinese Cyberattack Hits Telegram, App Used by Hong Kong Protesters

 

 

A network of computers in China bombarded Telegram, a secure messaging app used by many of the protesters, with a huge volume of traffic that disrupted service. The app’s founder, Pavel Durov, said the attack coincided with the Hong Kong protests, a phenomenon that Telegram had seen before.

“This case was not an exception,” he wrote.

The Hong Kong police made their own move to limit digital communications. On Tuesday night, as demonstrators gathered near Hong Kong’s legislative building, the authorities arrested the administrator of a Telegram chat group with 20,000 members, even though he was at his home miles from the protest site.

. . .

Past the tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray, the Hong Kong protests are also unfolding on a largely invisible, digital front. Protesters and police officers alike have brought a new technological savvy to the standoff.

Demonstrators are using today’s networking tools to muster their ranks, share safety tips and organize caches of food and water, even as they take steps to hide their identities.

The Hong Kong authorities are responding by tracking the protesters in the digital places where they plan their moves, suggesting they are taking cues from the ways China polices the internet.

 

Edited June 14, 2019 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Team BlackSheep

Published on Jun 15, 2019

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The 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition law protests are a series of demonstrations in Hong Kong demanding the withdrawal of highly controversial bill proposed by the HK Government. The amended law would permit extradition of criminal suspects to Mainland China and subject them to possible arbitrary detention, unfair trial and torture under China’s judicial system. The June 9 protest organised by the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) was attended by an estimated 1.03 million people. Despite the widespread demonstrations, the government insisted on the amendment to pass. The second reading was originally scheduled on 12 June but was not held due to protests, and a scheduled meeting on the next day, 13 June, was also postponed. On June 15 the bill was postponed until further notice. A new protest has been scheduled for June 15 to get the bill completely withdrawn

 

 

 

 

[Randy W]

from the Shanghaiist

 

Hong Kong police chief blasted after clarifying that only a few protesters were “rioting”

 

Some want to know why 150 tear gas canisters were fired to deal with just five "rioters"

 

[Randy W]

Police under siege! from the SCMP

 

Hong Kong police plan to ‘stick to soft approach and exercise restraint’ after 15-hour siege by protesters against extradition bill

• Muted tactic praised for avoiding clashes but concerns raised over morale of force, as observers note some protesters had clearly broken law with impunity
• Force wary of deepening public mistrust following June 12 crackdown

 

 

 

For hours throughout Friday, police were reduced to standing silently behind glass doors and windows as protesters threw eggs at their Wan Chai headquarters, painted graffiti over the building’s walls, blocked the exits of the compound and flashed laser beams at them.

 

. . .

 

One stranded senior inspector, who is four months pregnant, told reporters that she had to call her mother-in-law urgently to take care of her 14-month-old son at home.

 

“Our supervisors tried twice to arrange for pregnant colleagues to leave the premises, but we were blocked by protesters at the exit,” she said. “We tried to talk to them but it was no use.”

Another senior inspector, who has a six-year-old daughter with a rare disease, said: “I’m sad at being unable to take care of my family physically and emotionally.”

In the aftermath of the siege, the stench of raw egg lingered around the headquarters, and officers and cleaners had to clear the barricades, graffiti and stickers left by protesters, as well as fix surveillance cameras that had been taped.

 

[Randy W]

just sad, all around - from the SCMP

 

Hong Kong police warn of action and appropriate force to clear legislature of protesters soon

• Demonstrators smashed their way into city's legislative chamber following hours of mayhem and destruction outside which prompted an unprecedented red alert
• Earlier in the day, hundreds of thousands marched peacefully through city while leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor pledged to listen to the people during ceremony to celebrate anniversary of return to Chinese sovereignty

 

 

Many protesters are still inside the chamber of Hong Kong's legislature. Photo: Winson Wong

 

although I think it's down to 30 right now (almost midnight here)

 

 

tear gas fired

[Randy W]

from Inkstone

 

 

A flag of British Hong Kong, and other protest messages decoded

 

 

[Allon]

Come on guys. You did not have to ruin what looks like rosewood paneling. That will make a whole bunch of guitars. Carl would be cringing right now.

[Randy W]

from the Global Times

 

Taiwan separatists warned against helping HK secessionists

 

Collusion with foreign forces would only ‘speed up’ reunification of Taiwan

 

 

Taiwan officials chimed in, attempting to exploit events in Hong Kong for their own political gain. Regional leader Tsai Ing-wen has vowed to ensure the island's defense, warning of lessons from Hong Kong. Su Tseng-chang, the chief of Taiwan's executive body, has warned the island of following Hong Kong's footsteps for small gain, media reported.

In June, Huang Kuo-chang, a major figure in the 2014 "Sunflower Movement" against the cross-Straits service trade agreement, and Hsu Yung-ming, a Soochow University political scientist, funded the so-called "Taiwan-Hong Kong alliance front under Taiwan's Legislative Yuan" in Taipei out of "concern for their counterparts" in Hong Kong.

. . .

Echoing Yang, Chang Ya-chung, a professor at the National Taiwan University, told the Global Times that "the politicians and media in Taiwan just simplify the situation in Hong Kong to incite the Taiwan people's hatred and antagonism toward the Chinese mainland."

. . .

Taiwan secessionists' collusion with Hong Kong protesters, along with foreign anti-China forces, will only deepen the division of Taiwan society and make Taiwan's future more uncertain, Chinese analysts said.

Yang added that their collusion will worsen cross-Strait relations and make the mainland more determined to speed up the reunification of Taiwan.

 

[Randy W]

from the SCMP - they were simply allowed in, rather than to allow them to achieve martyrdom for their cause.

 

Radical core of Hong Kong protesters who trashed city’s legislature were ‘prepared to die for their cause’

 

Officials expect group to organise more protests and provoke further clashes in future to draw global attention to its quest

If any protesters were injured or killed, police would have been blamed to spark condemnation and bring whole administration down, says source

 

A government source said the group of around 10 diehards with a “bring it on” mentality were prepared to face batons and rubber bullets during clashes with police that day, and they were in the cross hairs of police going after those who perpetrated the unprecedented invasion and trashing of the Legislative Council building.

“The protesters at the front were willing to sacrifice themselves. They turned so violent, hoping police would use aggressive force against them or shoot them with rubber bullets or beanbag rounds,” the source said.

Police retreated when the protesters broke in at around 9pm, allowing them to tear down political leaders’ portraits, paint slogans on the walls and smash furniture.

 

“If the individuals were badly injured or even killed, all the blame would have been placed on police so as to spark global condemnation, and eventually bring the whole administration down.”

 

[Randy W]

from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/354056118597711/

The history of Hong Kong protests and what happens now

Quote

Hongkongers have always made their voices heard. Here's a look at what the city's latest civil movement is all about

Edited June 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

The mob attacks were on protesters and other MTR riders leaving the scene of a protest (a previous protest - NOT the one shown at the police station)

from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/492163811611569/

South China Morning Post

8 hrs ·

Quote

An officer insists Yuen Long’s police station was open during the mob attack that injured more than 45 Hongkongers. But citizens demanded to know why the force failed to intervene.

 

Edited June 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)