SHATIN, HONG KONG – 2020/05/16: Demonstrators use a protest banner and gestures during the protests. Anti-government protesters gathered in a mall at the New Town Plaza after heeding to online calls to gather at four arcades across town in a series of shop with you protests, aiming to force businesses to close temporarily. This prompted riot police into the mall to disperse the protesters.
Tang Yan | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images
Hong Kong police fired tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters on Sunday, as thousands thronged the streets to protest against Beijing’s plan to directly impose national security laws on the city.
The rally came as the city’s government sought to reassure the public and foreign investors over the laws that sent a chill through financial markets and drew a rebuke from foreign governments, international human rights groups and some business lobbies.
In drafting the new laws, which could see the setting up of Chinese government intelligence agencies in the global financial center, Beijing plans to circumvent Hong Kong’s lawmaking body, the Legislative Council.
The move has sparked concerns over the fate of the “one country, two systems” formula that has governed Hong Kong since its return to Chinese rule in 1997 and which guarantees the city broad freedoms not seen on the mainland.
Some local commentators have described the proposal as “a nuclear option” that is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s high-stakes power play.
A backlash intensified on Saturday as nearly 200 political figures from around the world said in a statement the proposed laws said the proposed laws are a “comprehensive assault on the city’s autonomy, rule of law and fundamental freedoms.”
China has dismissed other countries’ complaints as “meddling” and rejected concerns the proposed laws would harm foreign investors.
On Saturday, local Hong Kong media reported police were seen entering Beijing’s main representative bureau in the city, the Liaison Office, ahead of protests expected to start later in the bustling shopping district of Causeway Bay.
The rally was initially organised against a controversial national anthem bill, which is due for a second reading at the Legislative Council on Wednesday. The proposed national security laws sparked calls for more people to take to the streets.
