Hong Kong (AFP)
Like many pro-democracy protesters gathered Sunday in Hong Kong, Kelly does not approve of the violence that marked the mobilization, but it refuses to disavow the most radical participants of the movement.
"Even if I think that the demonstrations must remain peaceful, we will always support each other," said the 26-year-old woman with a face concealed by a black mask. "We do not want to be divided".
The mobilization in Hong Kong, which began in June to protest against a bill allowing extradition to China, has turned into a vast pro-democracy movement that has been marked by clashes with police and violence that tarnished the image of the protesters.
"I do not like violence (radical protesters), I am against," says Wong, a retired teacher aged 54 who has agreed to give only one name, like many protesters. "But I understand them, I am angry, I am furious".
The demonstration in Hong Kong Sunday, which gathered hundreds of thousands of participants, was seen as an opportunity for pro-democracy activists to find a credible image after criticism of the violence in the ranks of the protesters. The demonstrations had degenerated more and more often in clashes between the police, radicals no longer hesitate to throwing stones or Molotov cocktails, and to use slingshots.
Francis, 24, believes that safeguarding the peaceful nature of Sunday's protest is essential for "high moral standards".
The protesters warn against a division between two camps - for or against violent actions - fearing a disunity that would play the game of Beijing.
"China is mounting people against each other, the most violent protesters against peaceful protesters, the police against the citizens," said a protester who called himself Kenny.
"They want people to choose a camp, and to some extent it works," he warns.
"I do not think we can achieve our goals using a single tactic," said a protester who asked to remain anonymous.
"If the (government) does not take action, and if we start to resort to other methods, they will not be able to say then that we destroy things only by our own will ... it is only because we have no other choice, "said the protester.
In Causeway Bay shopping district, two friends said they had quarreled over whether to participate in the protest, given rising violence among protesters, but they finally decided to go there to show their support for the cause of democracy.
"We may not have the same ideas about how to get satisfaction with our demands ... but we are always here together," says one of them, a student.
© 2019 AFP