HONG KONG Reuters :
After a week of relative calm, thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday (Dec 1) chanting slogans such as “revolution of our time” and “liberate Hong Kong”.
The protest, which took place in the bustling shopping district of Tsim Tsa Tsui, came after hundreds of people had marched to the United States consulate earlier in the day to show “gratitude” for US support for the demonstrations that have roiled the China-ruled financial hub for nearly six months.
Waving posters that read “Never forget why you started” and black flags with the logo “Revolution now”, protesters marched past the city’s Kowloon waterfront, home to luxury hotels and shopping malls.
Police in riot gear were out in force for the Tsim Sha Tsui march – the third one of the day. The approved march was from the Clock Tower in Tsim Sha Tsui to the Hong Kong Coliseum in Hung Hom via Salisbury Road.
Around 4.45pm, police fired tear gas on Salisbury Road as some protesters had hurled bricks at officers and others deviated from the approved march route by occupying all lanes of Salisbury Road.
Earlier, police had fired pepper spray and pepper balls to force protesters back onto the approved route but to no avail.
The organiser of the march then announced that the rally would end at 5pm, one hour earlier than the permitted 6pm. Thereafter, police started clearing people from the protest route, telling them that the event had ended and that any continued gathering would be illegal. Sunday’s protests came as the Hong Kong government is looking into setting up an independent committee to review the handling of the crisis, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung told reporters when asked about an independent review committee. Some critics on social media, however, have said that such a committee would fall short of the independent investigation they have been demanding.
There has been relative calm in Hong Kong for the past week since local elections last Sunday delivered an overwhelming victory to pro-democracy candidates. However, activists have pledged to maintain the momentum of the movement with three marches on Sunday.
“I just want to remind everyone that despite the small victory in district council election, we must not forget why we started all this and we must return to our main theme – reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our time; five demands, not one less,” an organiser of the Tsim Sha Tsui rally wrote on the Reddit-like LIHKG forum.
Police have issued permits called “letters of no objection” for all three events – including the march to the US consulate and a separate morning protest against police use of tear gas – and the post on LIHKG urged people to remain peaceful. “I want to beg everyone to remain highly restrained during the hours covered by the letter of no objection. Otherwise I could be charged with inciting riots,” the organiser wrote in the anonymously penned post. Anti-government protests have rocked the city since June, at times forcing government offices, businesses, schools and even the international airport to shut.
