Protesters who had vowed to “escalate” their action after the government refused to fully withdraw a controversial extradition bill spilled onto Harcourt Road this morning, building makeshift barricades and snarling traffic before starting off on a march to police headquarters in Wan Chai.
In addition to seeking the withdrawal of the bill, the students’ groups that mobilized today’s protest had given the government until 5pm yesterday to retract its characterization of last Wednesday’s chaotic protest as a “riot,” to drop the charges against those arrested over it, to hold police accountable for their heavy-handed response, and for embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam to step down.
They even circulated a flashy, anime-inflected video yesterday listing the demands, and stating that they would “not back down until our demands are met.”
The crowd marching towards police headquarters this morning numbered in the hundreds, far smaller than the record crowds that turned out two Sundays in a row in protest of the bill, but apparently determined to make their impact felt.
Video from the scene shows anti #ExtraditionBill protesters swarming Harcourt Road, in front of the LegCo, this morning. #NoExtraditionToChina pic.twitter.com/OicEidDc09
— Coconuts Hong Kong (@CoconutsHK) June 21, 2019
One protester, surnamed Wong, 23, told Coconuts HK earlier this morning that an apology Lam issued on Monday was nothing but empty talk.
“Carrie Lam still hasn’t met our demands,” she said. “She says she’s sorry but she hasn’t done anything, like withdraw the bill.”
Another protester, surnamed Lau, 21, said the extradition bill was only a part of a broader threat to Hong Kong’s special freedoms.
“There are still things like the national anthem law that we have to worry about,” she said. “These haven’t been withdrawn yet, just delayed, which means theres a chance that it might come back. So it’s not just about one thing, there are still other bills. The problem is no matter what the people of Hong Kong say or think, Lam still doesn’t listen.”
The controversial national anthem law, which would criminalize any “insult” to China’s national song, The March of the Volunteers, has also proven deeply unpopular, but had failed to spur Hongkongers to action the way the extradition bill did. Still, given the prevailing mood, the LegCo appears to have decided the bill is too toxic to go ahead with at the moment.
On Wednesday, the body announced it would not be taking up the second reading of the national anthem bill before the summer recess as planned, a delay supported by both pro-democracy and pro-establishment lawmakers, RTHK reports.
The extradition bill, meanwhile, is still technically in limbo after Chief Executive Lam caved to unprecedented public opposition, and announced a “pause” in the work on the bill on Saturday. Though she has insinuated that the bill — which would have allowed extraditions to mainland China — will effectively die on the vine with the end of the LegCo term next year, she has refused to fully withdraw it.
Reporting by Vicky Wong.
