Hong Kong police hold tight tabs on first authorised protest in years

Several dozen demonstrators had been required to put on numbered lanyards and had been barred from carrying masks, as police monitored their march in opposition to a proposed land reclamation undertaking.

Hong Kong,UPDATED: Mar 26, 2023 14:43 IST

Protestors show in opposition to a land reclamation and waste switch station undertaking. (Reuters)

By Reuters:

Hong Kong police on Sunday permitted a small protest march beneath tight restrictions in one of many first demonstrations to be authorized for the reason that enactment of a sweeping nationwide safety legislation in 2020.

Several dozen demonstrators had been required to put on numbered lanyards and had been barred from carrying masks, as police monitored their march in opposition to a proposed land reclamation and garbage processing undertaking.

Participants chanted slogans in opposition to the reclamation undertaking as they marched within the rain with banners within the jap district of Tseung Kwan O, the place the undertaking is slated to be constructed.

ALSO READ | Slasher movie Winnie the Pooh received’t be screened in Hong Kong, Macau. Here’s why

Some additionally criticised the restrictions on their protest, which included a most of 100 individuals, in line with a seven-page letter from police to organisers, seen by Reuters.

“We need to have a more free-spirited protest culture,” mentioned James Ockenden, 49, who was marching along with his three youngsters.

“But this is all pre-arranged and numbered and it just destroys the culture and will put people off from coming for sure.”

Police granted the organisers a “no objection” letter for the protest on the situation they guarantee it could not violate nationwide safety legal guidelines, together with seditious shows or speech.

“Some lawbreakers may mix into the public meeting and procession to disrupt public order or even engage in illegal violence,” the police warned of their letter.

ALSO READ | Watch: Bags of KFC delivered to Xi Jinping’s resort in Moscow

Organisers mentioned as much as 50 individuals took half within the first protest to be authorised by the town’s police for a number of years.

Applications for different protests, together with a candlelight vigil on June 4 to commemorate the victims of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, have been denied on grounds associated to Covid social-distancing.

The final of Hong Kong’s Covid restrictions was scrapped this 12 months, following China’s choice to finish its “zero-Covid” insurance policies.

Published On:

Mar 26, 2023