One year ago on July 21, a mafia gang attacked a group of anti-extradition demonstrators and unsuspecting passengers at the local metro station. A district councilor arrested yesterday for breaking the new security law. 79 people fined for violation of anti-coronavirus measures.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Riot police dispersed dozens of anti-government demonstrators yesterday in the Yuen Long shopping center, near the border with China, one year after the attack on anti- extradition demonstrators and unsuspecting passengers in the local subway station (MTR) by Chinese triads.
On July 21 last year, the gang had dressed in white T-shirts (to distinguish themselves from the black ones of the protesters), armed with iron bars, sticks and other weapons, violently attacked people, causing 50 injuries. According to activists, the police were in league with the "triads" (local mafias) to spark violence and break the resistance of the democratic movement.
During yesterday's sit-in, black-clad participants chanted slogans against the police, demanding their dissolution, and called for independence for Hong Kong. Ted Hui, a member of the Democratic Party, was arrested for obstructing the law. With a megaphone, he urged the police not to abuse their power by making unnecessary arrests.
Kwai Tsing, a district councilor, was taken away by law enforcement officers on charges of violating Beijing's new - and disputed - security law. He was waving a billboard with the slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times".
The security legislation, which entered into force on 30 June, introduces the crimes of separatism, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. The Chinese leadership has imposed it to stifle the democratic movement, which for over a year has revealed Hong Kong's struggle for autonomy from the motherland and battle to safeguard its liberal system.