Another day of walking in Hong Kong. Thousands of pro-democracy protesters are preparing for a new mass rally on Sunday, August 18, in the special autonomous region of China, which they hope will be massive and peaceful, having already marched in large numbers the day before in the streets of the former British colony.
Main event of the weekend, it will be a real test of the determination of the pro-democracy militants as that of the pro-Beijing authorities. The call to demonstrate on Sunday was launched by the Civil Rights Front, a non-violent organization that sparked the massive June and July demonstrations in which hundreds of thousands of people took part.
"Sunday's march should still bring a million people together, and the Hong Kong people can not be beaten," pro-democracy MP Claudia Mo told reporters. Hong Kong Island, but banned protesters from marching in the street. This kind of ban has almost always been ignored by protesters in recent weeks, resulting in clashes with law enforcement.
The authorities justify these bans by more and more recurrent violence during the processions, the protesters attacking the police stations. The movement does not bend, despite the arrest of more than 700 people in more than two months of demonstrations.
Born in June of the refusal of a controversial bill authorizing extraditions to China, the mobilization has since broadened its demands to ask for the advent of a real universal suffrage amid fears of growing interference from Beijing .
"To suppress the voice of the people"
Saturday's rallies began with a march of thousands of teachers in torrential rain to support the pro-democracy movement, largely led by young activists.
In the afternoon, an even larger crowd gathered to walk to Hung Hom and To Kwa Wan, two popular port neighborhoods for Chinese tourists on the mainland. Some protesters attacked the premises of the Federation of Trade Unions, a pro-Beijing organization, covering them with graffiti and bombarding them with eggs.
The government has not yet responded to a single demand and has intensified the police pressure to suppress the voice of the people, "said a 25-year-old protester saying to be named March." If we do not go down in the street, our future, our next generation will face even more repression, "he added.
Hard-line pro-democracy activists have been facing police in Mong Kok district in the new territories (north), where multiple clashes have taken place in recent weeks. They blocked roads and pointed their laser rays at the riot police who carried out some charges, dispersing the demonstrators who briefly gathered.
With AFP