Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong said Thursday they expect an anti-violence rally scheduled for Saturday to attract even more people after police rejected their request for a permit.
Protesters are organizing to gather in Yuen Long, the northern New Territories town where a mob of white-clad thugs surrounded and attacked a group of protesters heading home after a peaceful march on Sunday. The thugs, believed to number over 100, surrounded the Yuen Long Mass Transit Rail (MTR) station and beat anyone wearing black, the protesters’ signature color, with bamboo sticks and metal rods, sending 45 people to the hospital. One victim remains in critical condition. Several of the beaten insist they were not protesters and were merely wearing black.
Pro-democracy organizers accused the Chinese government of hiring the violent mob to attack them from members of local triads, or organized crime gangs, in Hong Kong. Police later announced the arrest of 12 people in relation to the beatings and confirmed that some had ties to local triads, but denied any ties to the gangs. Videos circulating on social media showed some of the thugs calmly speaking with police officers and at least one pro-China lawmaker, Junius Ho, who has since warned protesters they would be killed if they continued their efforts.
This weekend, protesters want to return to Yuen Long to protest the beatings.
“In light of the severe conflicts that broke out following the recent rallies or marches … police have reason to believe the actions of the participants of this rally would be out of your control,” a letter from the police to Max Chung, the organizer who filed for a rally permit, rejecting the request read, according to the South China Morning Post.
The Post added that police argued the organizers “had failed to adjust the route or provide a back-up one and could not prove they were able to ensure safety and order through deploying the sufficient number of marshals as requested.”
Police also argued that the protest could result in unrelated locals being injured or otherwise inconvenienced by the large crowds, a concern that overrode the protesters’ right to free assembly.
“Hong Kong people must act to respond to the July 21 terrorist attack at the Yuen Long MTR station,” Chung told the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP). “The government must respond as to whether the July 21 terrorist attack was a cross-border [Chinese] terrorist attack, and whether it will form an independent investigation commission to find out the truth.”
“Chung said he hoped to obtain a letter of no objection for the rally that will give clearance for it to continue until midnight,” HKFP reported.
Chung told other media outlets that police should be aware the protesters are marching regardless of the permit and that he expected crowds to be larger to not only protest the Yuen Long violence, but the police blocking their right to object to the violence.
Millions have joined ongoing protests in Hong Kong since early June in reaction to a proposed law that would allow the Communist Party of China to extradite individuals in Hong Kong if accused of violating Chinese law. The extradition bill, opponents say, makes China’s repressive laws applicable within Hong Kong, a violation of the “One Country, Two Systems” policy that China agreed to when the United Kingdom handed Hong Kong over in 1997. The policy prevents Hong Kong from declaring independence and China from impinging on Hong Kong’s free capitalist society.
Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced this month that the extradition bill is “dead” and lawmakers managed to table the bill before protesters destroyed the Legislative Council’s headquarters to prevent them from being able to pass it. Tabling a bill allows lawmakers to revive it at any time. Protesters are now demanding a full withdrawal of the bill, as well as freedom for peaceful protesters arrested for participating in anti-China activity, an apology from the local government for calling the protests “riots,” and, this week, an end to violence perpetrated against them by armed groups.
The Chinese regime in Beijing insists that the protests are a coordinated effort by the United States to undermine China’s quest for global hegemony, which they deny exists. Asked about the Yuen Long beatings, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying described the attacks as “things happened” and accused the protesters of deliberately staging violence to America’s benefit.
We are opposed to all violent, illegal actions and firmly support the Hong Kong SAR government and police in handling that in accordance with law to uphold the rule of law and social order in Hong Kong,” Hua said on Wednesday.
A day before, Hua asked, “what role did the US play in the recent incidents in Hong Kong and what is your purpose behind it?” and advised Washington to “to withdraw its dirty hands from Hong Kong as soon as possible.”
America’s State Department had condemned the Yuen Long attacks as “disturbing” in the immediate aftermath and warned China to “respect the freedoms of speech and assembly.”
“Societies are best served when diverse political views are respected and can be freely expressed,” a State Department spokesperson said. “The continued erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy puts at risk its long-established special status in international affairs.”