Hong Kong Extradition Bill Protests

[Randy W]

by the numbers - from Yonden Lhatoo and the SCMP

 

The extent of Hong Kong’s crisis: let the numbers do the talking

• Just how bad has it become in the city? Yonden Lhatoo says the numbers tell the story after six months of mass protests, street violence and social strife, with no end in sight

 

 

With many of these gatherings descending into street violence by a radical minority, police have arrested well over 5,800 people. That surpasses the total of just under 4,500 for the 1967 leftist riots, considered Hong Kong’s worst-ever disturbance.

The youngest arrested so far is aged just 11 years and the oldest, 83, testament to the extent of public participation in this revolution and representative of a wide demographic ranging from prepubescent children to venerable octogenarians.

. . .

Over the past six months, riot police have fired a whopping 10,000 rounds of tear gas, 2,300 of them on a single day across seven districts. Obviously this has sparked alarm over the impact on public health, but if our government is to be believed, protesters setting fire to rubber and plastic barricades are more to blame for the proliferation of toxic dioxins in the air and family barbecues can be just as bad.

. . .

They have also, until now, trashed 730 sets of traffic lights to varying degrees across the city, but the authorities have managed to repair 680 of them already, which speaks volumes about the resilience and efficiency that this city is famous for. And tolerance, we might add.

When chewing on and digesting these numbers, let’s keep in mind that it has already been half a year of this now. Which other developed city in the world would put up with so much for so long?

 

[Randy W]

large (approved) protests and some violence today

Hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers took to the street on December 8, 2019, the day before the six-month anniversary of the anti-government protests. For the first time since August, the Civil Human Rights Front, the organiser of the march, received a letter of no objection from the police.

Edited December 8, 2019 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

. . . and just to prove they're still around - from the SCMP

 

Hong Kong protests: restaurants spray-painted and diners harassed in ‘Christmas shopping’ action in leading malls

• Protesters, many of whom were masked and wearing black, staged rallies at a number of popular malls
• Riot police subdue at least two people in Telford Plaza mall

 

Radical protesters vandalise a restaurant in New Town Plaza. Photo: Sam Tsang

[Randy W]

more of the action today - from the SCMP

 

Hong Kong ‘Christmas shopping’ protests

2,000 views

•Dec 15, 2019

 

 

[Allon]

Liberty vs. Security.

 

Will they tip the scale? Already some of my contacts in Hong Kong (company related) are now against the protesters. They want things to settle down. But they are afraid the PLA will come in. Difficult situation.....

[Randy W]

from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/744371829399713/

South China Morning Post

·

Quote

"I used to think Hong Kong police were very righteous... since the protests began, I have seen them using too much force and beating up citizens." - Hong Kong's months-long civil unrest, through the eyes of a child.

 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Back at it - "after a Chinese national flag was thrown on the ground"

 

from the SCMP

 

Police gun drawn as Hong Kong rally for China’s Uygurs descends into chaos

 

A protest rally in Hong Kong on Sunday December 22, 2019, against China’s treatment of Muslim Uygurs in Xinjiang, descended into chaos and saw a police officer draw his weapon as he came under attack. Anti-government protests in Hong Kong have now been ongoing for more than six months.

 

 

 

[Randy W]

with more planned for today - from the SCMP https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/610381559717024/

90K Views ·
8 hours ago ·
 

Quote

Christmas Eve was not a silent night in Hong Kong. Police fired tear gas and deployed water cannon to disperse protesters in various neighbourhoods.

Edited June 22, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

South China Morning Post

Protesters plan New Year's Day rally after Christmas clashes

16,549 views

•Dec 26, 2019

 

The Christmas protests in Hong Kong ended on December 26 after a third straight day of confrontations with police. More than 310 people were arrested, and protesters vowed to return to the streets for a mass rally on January 1 to ring in the new year. Full story: https://sc.mp/a8cis

 

 

 

[Randy W]

Not much to see here, except people getting beat up or arrested, girls getting their suitcases kicked, and Mainlanders being told to go home.

 

Hong Kong protests: pepper spray fired during 'shopping’ rally near border with mainland China

448 views

•Dec 28, 2019

 

Riot police restrained at least 15 people and fired pepper spray in the Hong Kong border town of Sheung Shui on Saturday, after about 100 masked demonstrators gathered in a major mall to protest against so-called parallel traders and shoppers from mainland China.Protesters also gathered on a footbridge between the mall and the MTR railway station, kicking the shopping bags and suitcases of mainland visitors, who fled the scene and left cosmetics and other items behind.

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

an editorial from Yonden Lhatoo/SCMP

 

No Happy New Year ahead for Hong Kong, just endless protest chaos for the foreseeable future

• Get used to it, Yonden Lhatoo says, because nothing is changing, nobody is coming to the rescue, and no one has any panacea for the most destructive and debilitating social and political crisis since the city’s return to China

Yonden Lhatoo

Published: 7:53pm, 28 Dec, 2019

 

While the revolution devours its own, Beijing gets to showcase its tolerance and patience to a global audience. Photo: Nora Tam

 

 

Wreck and repair, rinse and repeat. That’s been the new normal for more than half a year now, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Get used to it because nothing is changing, nobody is coming to the rescue, and no one has any panacea, now that the lid has been blown off the Pandora’s box of Hongkongers’ pent-up problems and frustrations.

 

There will be scattered protests on weekdays while most citizens go about their daily business, occasional mass rallies to mark some anniversary or another of the hate-China/destroy-police/despise-government campaign, and regular outbreaks of violence and anarchy over weekends and public holidays. Every time it feels like protest fatigue is setting in and the uprising is subsiding, something or other will trigger a new flare-up.

The majority will remain peaceful as they continue to press their core demands – amnesty for all those arrested, an independent inquiry into the use of force by police, political reform with the aim of bringing in universal suffrage – but they will also ignore, support, and even celebrate the violent and criminal excesses perpetrated by a radical minority on the front lines of the movement.

 

The lame-duck administrators of this city can neither give in to these demands nor come up with viable alternatives to pacify the miserable masses, so all you can expect from them is their trademark, torpid passivity accompanied by feeble rhetoric about their determination to restore law and order.

 

. . .

The economic carnage is real, and we’ll be seeing more businesses haemorrhaging from the wounds inflicted by protest chaos, but senior officials, off the record, say Hong Kong can take the hit for many more months to come because the city’s financial fundamentals are still sound. A bigger worry is the impact of the US-China trade war.

 

And don’t expect a Tiananmen-style crackdown either in the year ahead. After six months of all this, it’s more than obvious that Beijing has more to lose by deploying China’s military on Hong Kong streets.

While the revolution devours its own, Beijing gets to showcase its tolerance and patience to a global audience, while also convincing more than 1.4 billion citizens across the border that without the Communist Party’s leadership, the alternative is Hong Kong-style chaos. Seems to be working so far.

So, Happy New Year, folks. Here’s to pretending that anything changes when the year does.

Yonden Lhatoo is the chief news editor at the Post

 

[Greg.D.]

Reminds me of how all that tea was wasted in Boston Harbor. Such a shame. Somebody should have put a stop to it. Messy, messy, messy.

[Allon]

Talked with a few HK'ers where I work, here in America. They are still bitter about the protests and back them 100%. FOr the sake of the city, I hope there is some restraint.

[Randy W]

From the SCMP, just to make sure we don't forget about these guys

Tear gas fired in Mong Kok for second night in row as radicals block roads

• The force said ‘three innocent passers-by’ were assaulted as protesters blocked roads, forcing police to intervene
• Protesters also threw ‘hard objects’ at officers and refused to leave the area, police said

Edited June 22, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

"Even white miniskirts are banned’: mainland China stops imports over protests

• Items with no apparent connection to protests, including colourful tops and ordinary eyeglasses, being stopped by mainland customs, shops complain
• One apparel company took the costly route of first shipping to Taiwan, then back to Hong Kong to keep customers happy

 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)