Hundreds of black-clad protesters walked through Christmas-decorated shopping malls in Hong Kong on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, many wearing reindeer antlers. They chanted “Liberate Hong Kong!” and “Revolution of our times!” Riot police were waiting.
The marches were planned to disrupt holiday shopping. Police used pepper spray and batons indoors and fired tear gas and water cannons in the streets. Protesters blocked roads and wrecked a bank branch, and police said petrol bombs were thrown. Authorities reported more than 100 arrests.
DW reported that tear gas was used in December for the first time on the 24th and 25th, after a lull in the city-wide protests earlier in the month.
Two accounts
Chief Executive Carrie Lam blamed the demonstrators. “Many members of the public and tourists coming to Hong Kong were naturally disappointed that their Christmas Eve celebrations have been ruined by a group of reckless and selfish rioters,” she wrote on Facebook on Christmas Day. December 25 and 26 are public holidays in Hong Kong, where around 12% of people are Christian.
Critics say the police were heavy-handed with crowds that began peacefully, though without official permission. Hong Kong Watch, a UK-based group, accused the force of “truly outrageous police brutality” on Christmas Eve. The government said police used only “minimum force.”
Two people were hurt. One protester fell several feet inside a mall on Christmas Eve. Authorities said he pushed an officer to the ground and jumped a glass fence to escape. He was conscious when taken to hospital and was later arrested for assaulting a police officer. Separately, a 16-year-old fell from the roof of a restaurant after police went in on Wednesday. DW said he was in stable condition.
Why they kept coming
One protester told Reuters he expected a clash. “Confrontation is expected, it doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas,” he said. “I’m disappointed the government still didn’t respond to any of our … demands. We continue to come out even if we don’t have much hope.”
The movement began in June, when hundreds of thousands marched against a bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. Lam withdrew the bill in September, but the anger did not fade. Demands now include universal suffrage and investigations into police conduct.
The weeks before Christmas had brought explosives of another kind. On Wednesday police said they raided a warehouse in Kwun Tong on an intelligence tip and found 500 grams of smoke bombs, 15 grams of explosives and dozens of bottles of chemicals. An 18-year-old student was charged and could face 14 years in prison if convicted.
Sources
- Christmas in Hong Kong marked by demonstrations and tear gas | CNN
- Hong Kong protests: 'It doesn't matter if it's Christmas'
Sources
- Hong Kong protests: Christmas marked by demonstrations… | CNN
- Hong Kong protests: 'It doesn't matter if it's Christmas'
