Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents took to the steets of the city on Sunday after a large-scale march proposed by the Civil Human Rights Front was banned by the police.
From noon, people gatherered in Causeway Bay. While walking towards Central, they chanted slogans such as “Five demands, not one less!” and “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times!”
The marchers also sang Glory To Hong Kong, a new protest song composed by anti-extradition protesters.
According to the Public Order Ordinance, people are required to obtain an official notice of “no objection” from the police before they can legally protest in public areas. Under local law, protesting without first obtaining a letter of no objection can be treated as an act of illegal assembly.
In an apparent bid to attract the attention of foreign media, some marchers brandished US and British flags.
When the marchers arrived in Central, they turned around and walked to the government headquarters in Admiralty. People tore down two banners related to the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and burned them.
At 4:50pm, the MTR Corp announced it was shutting down Admiralty station. Some masked people vandalized the station’s exits.
From 5pm, the police fired several rounds of tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd. Some people responded by throwing bricks and dozens of gasoline bombs. A water cannon vehicle was deployed.
When riot police charged from the west side at around 6pm, many demonstrators retreated to Wan Chai. They set fire to debris on roads and moved towards Causeway Bay, where major shopping malls, including Pacific Place in Admiralty, were closed.
In Causeway Bay, hundreds of riot police were forced to retreat into a MTR station as more than a thousand people shouted slogans at them. The police force then deployed two armoured vehicles to clear the roads.
The crowd continued moving toward Fortress Hill and North Point. In the evening, several street fights between the pro-Beijing Fujianese and men wearing black shirts were reported. At 11pm, riot police dispersed the crowd with tear gas.
Read: Tear gas, petrol bombs as violence returns to HK
