Several MTR stations will be shut today as anti-government demonstrators prepare to rally in multiple locations across the city on China’s National Day.
The city’s railway operator issued an alert last night announcing that Admiralty, Wan Chai, and Prince Edward stations will be shut all day today, and that trains will not stop at those stations. (But on the plus side, if you were thinking of going to Ocean Park today, there’s a free shuttle bus from Kennedy Town, so… yay?)
Admiralty, Wan Chai, and Prince Edward shut (boo!) Free shuttle bus to Ocean Park (yay!) pic.twitter.com/iJzFQyRuhA
— Vicky Wong 黃瑋殷 (@vickywong710) September 30, 2019
The MTR issued another alert in the early hours of this morning announcing that Causeway Bay, Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan, Tsuen Wan West, Sham Shui Po, Tuen Mun, Wong Tai Sin, and Che Kung Temple stations will also be shut from 11am until further notice.
Meanwhile the Airport Express will operate a non-stop service from Hong Kong Station to the airport from 2pm onwards, skipping Kowloon and Tsing Yi stations in between.
Effective martial law? #MTR closing 8 more stations from 11am where rallies are planned: Causeway Bay, Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan, Tsuen Wan West, Shan Shui Po, Tuen Mun, Wong Tai Sin, Che Kung Temple #HongKongProtest https://t.co/b9CARqns3o
— Damon Pang (@damon_pang) October 1, 2019
The announcements come after protesters on the messaging app Telegram and the Reddit-like forum LIHKG called for rallies in Sha Tin, Sham Shui Po, Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, Wan Chai, and Wong Tai Sin to coincide with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
There were also calls online for protesters to disrupt transport links to the airport.
https://twitter.com/madeinhomekong/status/1178741769103495169
Although an appeals board upheld a police ban on today’s planned rally by the Civil Human Rights Front, some members of the pro-democracy camp urged people to rally anyway.
RTHK reports that one of the organizers of the march, solicitor Albert Ho, conceded that anybody joining the demonstration would be doing so at their own risk as it would technically be an illegal assembly.
“I think that people can anticipate that there is a possibility that police would prosecute. I think we have to make it clear,” Ho said.
“But still, our right to march does not depend on the issuance of a notice of no objection. Because our right stems from the Basic Law and the Bill of Rights. And any decision contrary to the principles of the Bill of Rights and the Basic Law is liable to be challenged in court.”
