As I write this, it’s about 6 am in Hong Kong, meaning it’s already October 1st. October 1 is communist China’s “National Day” which is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the country this year. Reuters reports that police in Hong Kong predicted a violent attack by protesters:
There will be a “very serious violent attack,” the chief superintendent of the police’s public relations branch, Tse Chun-chung, told a news conference on Monday. “We are on the verge of extreme danger.”
Police said they arrested a total of 157 people, including 67 students, after a chaotic weekend in which tear gas and water cannon were fired at protesters who set fires and threw petrol bombs. Eight police officers were injured, they said…
Two prominent democracy activists, actor Gregory Wong and Ventus Lau, were arrested for their involvement in protests on Monday, according to a representative for the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), the organizer of previous mass protests.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s embattled chief executive, will not be present tomorrow. She decided to spend the day in Bejing but it appears to have been a last-minute change of plans. Reuters says it’s unclear if this was Lam’s decision or if she was “summoned” to China because of the unrest over the weekend.
Here’s an example of the kind of thing that happened over the weekend to which mainland China would obviously object:
Protestors in Hong Kong burning a communist party flag#HongKong #China pic.twitter.com/DPoNWG7AgZ
— CNW (@ConflictsW) September 29, 2019
There was some violence over the weekend from the police. Here’s an Amnesty international clip mocking the police’s excuse for video showing a cop kicking someone on the ground:
Hong Kong police said that this video shows "what appears to be an officer kicking a yellow object." But what is it? 🍌?🚕?🌻? Nope. It's a human being. pic.twitter.com/KkM4QONoiX
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) September 30, 2019
And here’s a clip showing the police pepper-spraying a pro-democracy legislator who didn’t appear to be doing anything except talking:
the man in the glasses is one of hong kong's finest legislators, eddie chu hoi dick. a social activist who ran in spite of death threats, he was elected with 84,000 votes–more than any candidate that year.
here's how hong kong cops treated him today.
— wilfred chan (@wilfredchan) September 29, 2019
There was also some violence from protesters aimed at undercover police:
Several undercoverd police officers were assaulted by many #HongKong protesters. One police officer had to make a warning shot to save themselves. pic.twitter.com/wsqHa8AO4m
— Liam Stone石立安 (@liamstone_19) September 30, 2019
And also aimed at pro-China protesters:
Earlier tonight protesters in Hong Kong beat up someone who came with a Chinese flag pic.twitter.com/c1zyT76aPI
— Nathan VanderKlippe (@nvanderklippe) September 28, 2019
Ultimately, the protesters are fighting for their own long term freedom. This protester says the reeducation camps China is currently using to turn Xinjiang Muslims into eager communists will come to Hong Kong: “Xinjiang’s today is Hong Kong’s tomorrow.”
"The way police are treating Hong Kong people is the same as German Nazis or how China handles Xinjiang.
They [Chinese government] put Xinjiang people [Uyghur Muslims] in concentration camps and suppress people who support Muslims." pic.twitter.com/JdD9utnuTp
— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) September 30, 2019
Comparing the Chinese government to the Nazis has become pretty popular among protesters:
“SAY NO TO CHINAZI,” read a silhouetted slogan projected onto the Chinese military’s building in the semiautonomous Chinese territory. The word is a newly popular term in Hong Kong’s protest movement: China + Nazi, a derogatory framing of Beijing’s governance.
So it’s very possible things will get heated today. If something happens in the next few hours I’ll update this post. Otherwise, we’ll probably write about it tomorrow.
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