Hong Kong Police Make Sweeping Arrests as Protests Return

Hong Kong police arrested hundreds of people including key activists as protests again flared up on the city’s streets Sunday after weeks of relative calm since the implementation of a national security law.

A total of 270 people were arrested for illegal assembly as of 9 p.m. local time, and another 19 held for charges including disorderly conduct, obstructing and assaulting police, the Hong Kong police said in a Facebook post. The arrests were made in Yau Ma Tei and Mongkok neighborhoods in Kowloon, known for their night markets that attract tourists.

Protesters marched through the Kowloon area and blocked a city street with barricades chanting pro-democracy slogans and holding up placards in defiance of social distancing restrictions. Their main thrust was to protest Hong Kong’s delayed Legislative Council election, which was scheduled to take place on Sunday but has been pushed back a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Organizers also demanded “no national security law” and “no health code” ahead of the protest.

Prominent pro-democracy activists with the League of Social Democrats, Figo Chan, Raphael Wong and Leung Kwok-hung, were arrested, according to a Facebook post by the group. A video posted on their Facebook page appeared to show the three being taken away by police in a van.

The trio “were accused by the police of leading more than 30 people to gather, were escorted into a police car and taken back to the police station for arrest,” according to a translated Facebook post.

When reached by phone, police didn’t immediately confirm the arrests.

Hong Kong police also arrested a 47-year-old man Sunday for “uttering seditious words” between the end of June and August. Local media reported pro-democracy activist Tam Tak Chi had been arrested by police.

In a statement, the government on Sunday condemned the protests, calling them “unlawful” and “selfish” as they threaten public health, adding that independence slogans may be in violation of the security law.

It also defended the decision to delay the election for a year, warning that the pandemic may persist. Hong Kong reported the death of a Covid-19 patient Sunday night, an 82-year-old man, bringing the death toll in the city to 96.

“The epidemic is likely to last for a while -- there may also be a winter surge,” the government said, adding that the delay is “reasonable” because “preparation work and the voter registration exercise will take months before an election can be held.”

Organizers had initially promised to go ahead with the protest if more than 20,000 voted to participate in an informal online poll. Earlier Sunday, the poll showed just under half of about 14,000 votes cast were in favor of participating, with another 35% considering going and 18% not attending.

Protests have been muted since Beijing imposed a security law on the city in late June. Officials are also starting to ease some social distancing measures as an outbreak in the city has subsided, but gatherings of more than two people are still prohibited. Clashes between protesters and police were a regular fixture during last year’s political unrest that dragged Hong Kong’s economy into a recession. The coronavirus has since continued to weigh on the economy of the financial hub.

Tension is rising amid plans by the city to institute a health code that would allow travel between Hong Kong and nearby cities in mainland China, which has raised ethical concerns among medical professionals and fears over increased surveillance among activists.

The government defended the health code on Sunday, saying it will facilitate cross-border travel and boost economic activities. The measure doesn’t have any tracking capabilities and fully complies with privacy guidelines, it said.

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