Hong Kong protesters plan next move amid police stand-off

As Hong Kong protesters plan their next moves in the ongoing battle over a controversial extradition Bill, relations with the police have further disintegrated following more arrests and allegations of excessive force.

With no sign of a resolution in sight, the activists are now planning a march next weekend in the town of Sha Tin in the New Territories, which is very close to the Hong Kong-mainland Chinese border and will enable them to embark on another charm offensive with Chinese tourists.

Another strategy to get Beijing’s attention is to “stress test” the Bank of China, with protesters putting out a call for a collective withdrawal of funds from the bank next weekend.

On Sunday an estimated 230,000 protesters marched towards an express train station that links Hong Kong to the mainland, with the aim of converting mainland Chinese tourists to their cause. The march was a peaceful affair but there was a stand-off between a few hundred protesters and police a few hours later in the Mong Kok district.

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Relations between the police and protesters have plummeted since June 12th when police deployed rubber bullets, tear gas and batons to drive back the crowds, leaving 80 people injured. Human rights groups say they have video evidence to show multiple incidences of excessive police force on that evening.

Taunted police

Tensions were running high for hours on Sunday night as protesters taunted the police, and at one point student activist Joshua Wong approached a British chief superintendent in the Hong Kong force and loudly berated him, accusing the officer of sanctioning police brutality.

“Apologise to the people of Hong Kong, apologise to the people of Hong Kong,” he screamed as he was pushed back by several officers.

The police warned the protesters they were taking part in an illegal assembly and ordered them to disperse, and when they refused to co-operate charged at them with batons and shields.

Five were arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer or for obstructing officers in the execution of their duties, while another was arrested for failing to produce proof of identity.

Several protesters were left bloodied in the scuffles and afterwards Mr Wong said it was “just another example of excessive force used by the police”, and called on the US to stop selling crowd control weapons to the Hong Kong force.

The US is one of Hong Kong’s major suppliers for crowd control items such as pepperball guns, bean bag rounds, rubber rounds and pepper spray, he said.

Weapons ‘misused’

“These weapons are repeatedly misused to suppress protesters and even journalists . . . such as shooting at protesters’ heads, using pepper spray at close range, and unleashing tear gas directly at unarmed protesters,” Mr Wong wrote recently in a petition calling on the US to suspend any export application of crowd control equipment to Hong Kong.

Last month Britain's foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, suspended export licences from the UK for crowd control equipment to Hong Kong, and urged the city's officials to conduct an independent investigation into clashes between police and protesters.

Journalists

The Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association issued a joint statement on Monday also criticising the police's actions on Sunday.

“The police pushed frontline journalists and their cameras away with shields multiple times, yelled at, and even assaulted journalists to obstruct reporting, which was a serious violation of press freedom,” they said.

The city's government has suspended the controversial Bill, which if implemented could see Hong Kongers extradited to face Chinese courts, but the protesters are demanding its full withdrawal, the resignation of chief executive Carrie Lam, an inquiry into police brutality and an amnesty for the almost 80 protesters who have been arrested so far on various charges connected with the protests.

They are also calling for wider democratic reforms and the introduction of universal suffrage.