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Hong Kong braces for protests as government shuts offices
Hong Kong braced for the possibility of more anti-government protests on Thursday after scenes of violence and chaos rocked the normally peaceful global trade and finance center a day earlier.
Riot police were visible on the street near the local legislature — the epicenter of Wednesday's turmoil — but their presence was lighter, as rain poured down on the city before skies later cleared. There were few signs of protesters in the area.
Still, government offices in the financial district were closed for the rest of the week due to the protests and the main subway station servicing the area near the Legislative Council — the assembly's official name — remained shut.
Police and demonstrators clashed for hours on Wednesday as citizens protested Chief Executive Carrie Lam's proposed legal amendments that would allow people in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China.
Protesters gathered at the legislature because lawmakers were scheduled to debate the plan, but they ultimately could not because of the disruption caused by the protest.
And on Thursday, Legco — as the Legislative Council is informally known — announced in a statement that there would be no meeting that day either.
Wednesday's violence broke out outside the legislature after it was surrounded by demonstrators. Police wielding batons and riot shields fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowds, and protesters used open umbrellas in defense, with some throwing objects at police.
The government said a total of 79 people had been injured and hospitalized as of 11 a.m. local time Thursday, with two described as in serious condition.
Lam, who has refused to withdraw or delay the extradition plan, held her ground and condemned the protests as "intolerable" in a Wednesday evening video address.
"Clearly, this is no longer a peaceful assembly but a blatant, organised riot, and in no way an act of loving Hong Kong," she said.
One country, two systems
The protests, which kicked off over the weekend with a massive rally, underscore worries about what is seen as a broader erosion of Hong Kong's rights and freedoms in relation to China.
Hong Kong citizens, who enjoy a British-based legal system independent from the rest of China, fear the plan could threaten those judicial protections and their broader autonomy as well.
"The general perception is that the law is ... designed to create some kind of deterrence effect against the pro-democracy movement and the dissidents in Hong Kong," Joseph Cheng, a pro-democracy advocate and retired professor of political science, said Thursday on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
The territory of 7.4 million people, formerly part of the British Empire, has been a specially administered region of China since July 1, 1997.
It has its own government, currency, police force and civil service. Under a unique "one country, two systems" framework, China handles foreign affairs and defense and the the People's Liberation Army maintains a small garrison but keeps a low profile.
Lam, who says the legal changes are necessary, categorically denied Monday the idea that they were proposed by the central government in Beijing. Still, the Chinese government is on record as backing the bill, though Beijing has denied trying to water down Hong Kong's autonomy.
"Hong Kong people's rights and freedoms have been fully guaranteed," Geng Shuang, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said at a regular briefing Wednesday in Beijing.
'Tyranny opens fire'
The violence appeared to shock Hong Kong.
Local newspapers carried photos of the clashes on their front pages. "Tyranny opens fire on us," the liberal Apple Daily wrote in Chinese on its front page over a photo of riot police squaring off with demonstrators.
"I'm hurt. It's sad," a local government worker, who requested anonymity, told CNBC on Thursday morning. "It's dangerous," he said of the violence that rocked the city.
Police said that 240,000 people participated at the peak of Sunday's protest that saw throngs march down a main street shouting slogans and carrying signs denouncing the legislation and demanding Lam resign.
Organizers, however, claimed a turnout of slightly more than 1 million. The last time Hong Kong saw a protest of such scale was in 2003 when an estimated 500,000 people rallied against a proposed security law that also raised fears of closer links to China.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index has taken a hit, closing 1.73% lower on Wednesday after slumping as much as 2% in the afternoon session, amid the street clashes. It continued its slide Thursday, initially falling about 1% before recovering about half of the losses.
The protestors are winning if the HKSAR government is shutting down its offices. There is no way the protestors could continue if the police were serious about cracking down on them. This means the HK police are actually on the side of the protestors. They are deliberately handling them with kid gloves. The HKSAR government is losing control. Elements disloyal to Beijing have infiltrated.
It's time for the PLA to move in with tanks and drive from New Territories to Central. Shower the protestors with white phosphorus and crush them underneath our Type 099A2 tanks! Reduce the population of HK so much that every survivor will have enough space to live in detached housing like Americans.
Hong Kong braced for the possibility of more anti-government protests on Thursday after scenes of violence and chaos rocked the normally peaceful global trade and finance center a day earlier.
Riot police were visible on the street near the local legislature — the epicenter of Wednesday's turmoil — but their presence was lighter, as rain poured down on the city before skies later cleared. There were few signs of protesters in the area.
Still, government offices in the financial district were closed for the rest of the week due to the protests and the main subway station servicing the area near the Legislative Council — the assembly's official name — remained shut.
Police and demonstrators clashed for hours on Wednesday as citizens protested Chief Executive Carrie Lam's proposed legal amendments that would allow people in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China.
Protesters gathered at the legislature because lawmakers were scheduled to debate the plan, but they ultimately could not because of the disruption caused by the protest.
And on Thursday, Legco — as the Legislative Council is informally known — announced in a statement that there would be no meeting that day either.
Wednesday's violence broke out outside the legislature after it was surrounded by demonstrators. Police wielding batons and riot shields fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowds, and protesters used open umbrellas in defense, with some throwing objects at police.
The government said a total of 79 people had been injured and hospitalized as of 11 a.m. local time Thursday, with two described as in serious condition.
Lam, who has refused to withdraw or delay the extradition plan, held her ground and condemned the protests as "intolerable" in a Wednesday evening video address.
"Clearly, this is no longer a peaceful assembly but a blatant, organised riot, and in no way an act of loving Hong Kong," she said.
One country, two systems
The protests, which kicked off over the weekend with a massive rally, underscore worries about what is seen as a broader erosion of Hong Kong's rights and freedoms in relation to China.
Hong Kong citizens, who enjoy a British-based legal system independent from the rest of China, fear the plan could threaten those judicial protections and their broader autonomy as well.
"The general perception is that the law is ... designed to create some kind of deterrence effect against the pro-democracy movement and the dissidents in Hong Kong," Joseph Cheng, a pro-democracy advocate and retired professor of political science, said Thursday on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
The territory of 7.4 million people, formerly part of the British Empire, has been a specially administered region of China since July 1, 1997.
It has its own government, currency, police force and civil service. Under a unique "one country, two systems" framework, China handles foreign affairs and defense and the the People's Liberation Army maintains a small garrison but keeps a low profile.
Lam, who says the legal changes are necessary, categorically denied Monday the idea that they were proposed by the central government in Beijing. Still, the Chinese government is on record as backing the bill, though Beijing has denied trying to water down Hong Kong's autonomy.
"Hong Kong people's rights and freedoms have been fully guaranteed," Geng Shuang, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said at a regular briefing Wednesday in Beijing.
'Tyranny opens fire'
The violence appeared to shock Hong Kong.
Local newspapers carried photos of the clashes on their front pages. "Tyranny opens fire on us," the liberal Apple Daily wrote in Chinese on its front page over a photo of riot police squaring off with demonstrators.
"I'm hurt. It's sad," a local government worker, who requested anonymity, told CNBC on Thursday morning. "It's dangerous," he said of the violence that rocked the city.
Police said that 240,000 people participated at the peak of Sunday's protest that saw throngs march down a main street shouting slogans and carrying signs denouncing the legislation and demanding Lam resign.
Organizers, however, claimed a turnout of slightly more than 1 million. The last time Hong Kong saw a protest of such scale was in 2003 when an estimated 500,000 people rallied against a proposed security law that also raised fears of closer links to China.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index has taken a hit, closing 1.73% lower on Wednesday after slumping as much as 2% in the afternoon session, amid the street clashes. It continued its slide Thursday, initially falling about 1% before recovering about half of the losses.
The protestors are winning if the HKSAR government is shutting down its offices. There is no way the protestors could continue if the police were serious about cracking down on them. This means the HK police are actually on the side of the protestors. They are deliberately handling them with kid gloves. The HKSAR government is losing control. Elements disloyal to Beijing have infiltrated.
It's time for the PLA to move in with tanks and drive from New Territories to Central. Shower the protestors with white phosphorus and crush them underneath our Type 099A2 tanks! Reduce the population of HK so much that every survivor will have enough space to live in detached housing like Americans.
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