Hong Kong police fired pepper spray at protesters near government buildings on Wednesday as tensions ramped up over an extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial.

Tens of thousands of Hong Kong demonstrators surrounded the Chinese-ruled city's legislature earlier in the day, forcing it to postpone a second round of debate on the extradition bill. </s> HONG KONG, July 1 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Hong Kong protesters stormed the legislature on the anniversary of the city's 1997 return to China on Monday, destroying pictures and daubing walls with graffiti in a direct challenge to China as anger over an extradition bill spiralled out of control.

Some carried road signs, others corrugated iron sheets and pieces of scaffolding as about a thousand gathered around the Legislative Council building in the heart of the former British colony's financial district.

Some sat at legislators' desks, checking their phones, while others scrawled "anti-extradition" on chamber walls.

The government called for an immediate end to the violence, saying it had stopped all work on extradition bill amendments and that the legislation would automatically lapse in July next year.

"Some radical protesters stormed the Legislative Council Complex with extreme violence," a government spokesman said in a statement. "These protesters seriously jeopardised the safety of police officers and members of the public. Such violent acts are unacceptable to society."

There was no immediate response from the protesters, although some appeared to retreat as the evening wore on. Police said they would clear the area shortly.

A small group of mostly students wearing hard hats and masks had used a metal trolley, poles and scaffolding to charge again and again at the compound's reinforced glass doors, which eventually gave.

The council, the mini-parliament, issued a red alert, ordering the protesters to leave immediately.

The Legislative Council Secretariat released a statement cancelling business for Tuesday. The central government offices said they would close on Tuesday "owing to security consideration", while all guided tours to the Legislative Council complex were suspended until further notice.

Riot police in helmets and carrying batons earlier fired pepper spray as the standoff continued into the sweltering heat of the evening. Some demonstrators removed steel bars that were reinforcing parts of the council building.

Banners hanging over flyovers at the protest site read: "Free Hong Kong."

The protesters, some with cling film wrapped around their arms to protect their skin in the event of tear gas, once again paralysed parts of the Asian financial hub as they occupied roads after blocking them off with metal barriers.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam suspended the bill on June 15 after some of the largest and most violent protests in the city in decades, but stopped short of protesters' demands to scrap it.

It was not immediately clear that the announcement it would lapse would ease the tension.

The Beijing-backed leader is now clinging on to her job at a time of an unprecedented backlash against the government that poses the greatest popular challenge to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.

"The kind of deafness that I see in the government this time around despite these protests is really worrying. The complete disregard for the will of the people is what alarms me," said Steve, a British lawyer who has worked in Hong Kong for 30 years.

"If this bill is not completely scrapped, I will have no choice but to leave my home, Hong Kong."

Opponents of the extradition bill, which would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party, fear it is a threat to Hong Kong's much-cherished rule of law.

Hong Kong returned to China under a "one country, two systems" formula that allows freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, including freedom to protest and an independent judiciary.

Beijing denies interfering but, for many Hong Kong residents, the extradition bill is the latest step in a relentless march towards mainland control.

China has been angered by criticism from Western capitals, including Washington and London, about the legislation. Beijing said on Monday that Britain had no responsibility for Hong Kong any more and was opposed to its "gesticulating" about the territory.

Tens of thousands marched in temperatures of around 33 degrees Celsius (91.4°F) from Victoria Park in an annual rally. Many clapped as protesters held up a poster of Lam inside a bamboo cage. Organisers said 550,000 turned out. Police said there were 190,000 at their peak.

More than a million people have taken to the streets at times over the past three weeks to vent their anger.

A tired-looking Lam appeared in public for the first time in nearly two weeks, before the storming of the legislature, flanked by her husband and former Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa.

"The incident that happened in recent months has led to controversies and disputes between the public and the government," she said. "This has made me fully realise that I, as a politician, have to remind myself all the time of the need to grasp public sentiment accurately."

Pro-democracy lawmakers and the protest organiser said Lam has ignored the demands of the people and pushed youngsters towards desperation, despite pledging to listen to people's demands.

Beijing's grip over Hong Kong has intensified markedly since Xi took power and after pro-democracy street protests that gripped the city in 2014 but failed to wrestle concessions from China.

Tensions spiralled on June 12 when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters near the heart of the city, sending plumes of smoke billowing among some of the world's tallest skyscrapers.

The uproar has reignited a protest movement that had lost steam after the failed 2014 demonstrations that led to the arrests of hundreds.

Activists raised a black bauhinia flag to half mast outside the Legislative Council building before the rally and turned Hong Kong's official flag, featuring a white bauhinia flower on a red background, upside down.

The turmoil comes at a delicate time for Beijing, which is grappling with a trade dispute with the United States, a faltering economy and tensions in the South China Sea.

Beyond the public outcry, the extradition bill has spooked some Hong Kong tycoons into starting to move their personal wealth offshore, according to financial advisers familiar with the details. (Additional reporting by Reuters TV, Alun John, Vimvam Tong, Thomas Peter, David Lague, Jessie Pang, Felix Tam, Sharon Lam, Donny Kwok, Joyce Zhou and Twinnie Siu in HONG KONG and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING, Writing by Anne Marie Roantree Editing by Nick Macfie) </s> Anti-riot police in Hong Kong have used pepper spay and tear gas against activists as thousands of people have gathered near the Legislative Council (LegCo) on Wednesday to protest the controversial bill on amendments to the autonomous region's extradition law, local media reported

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th June, 2019) Anti-riot police in Hong Kong have used pepper spay and tear gas against activists as thousands of people have gathered near the Legislative Council (LegCo) on Wednesday to protest the controversial bill on amendments to the autonomous region's extradition law, local media reported.

The protesters gathered ahead of the body's meeting on the second reading of the bill, whose adoption will allow regional authorities to extradite suspects to mainland China. The Council's meeting was subsequently rescheduled for a later date.

After the police started pepper spraying the protesters, who are using umbrellas to protect themselves from the agent, the demonstrators started charging toward metal barricades, separating them from the police and the LegCo complex, The South China Morning Post newspaper reported.

One of police officers could be seen holding a banner reading "Stop charging or we use force," the outlet added.

The protesters, however, continued charging forward, with some of them shouting "Add oil, Hongkongers" and started clashing with the police, prompting law enforcement officers to use tear gas, according to the newspaper.

The anti-riot police have also fired bean bag rounds at the demonstrators, the outlet reported.

"It's a riot now. We had no choice but to use weapons to stop these rioters from barging at our defence lines. We condemn such irresponsible behaviour. There's no need to hurt innocent people to express your opinions," Hong Kong Police chief Stephen Lo said, as quoted by the newspaper.

On June 9, over 1 million people took to the streets in Hong Kong in another mass rally to protest against the amendment, with the protest becoming the largest rally held in the city since the United Kingdom returned Hong Kong to China in 1997.

The amendments to Hong Kong's extradition law are set to allow the autonomous territory to give up suspects to countries, with which it does not have extradition agreements. Rights groups have voiced concern that the new law would allow Beijing to secure the extradition of not only fugitive Chinese politicians but also activists who oppose the government's policies. </s> Hong Kong police warn they 'will use force' as they fire tear gas at anti-extradition protesters

Hong Kong police have fired pepper spray at protesters angry about an extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators, most of them young people dressed in black, had gathered peacefully outside government buildings in the Chinese-ruled city before tempers flared, with claims some threw bottles at officers. </s> Hong Kong, Jun 12 (ANI): The Legislative Council meeting, during which a debate on the controversial Chinese extradition bill was supposed to be held, has been rescheduled to a "later time" by the President of the Legislative Council.

This comes as swathes of anti-bill protesters have blocked major roads leading to the Legislative Council building, forcing police to use pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

"Under Rules of Procedure 14(3), the President of the Legislative Council has directed that the Council meeting of June 12 scheduled to begin at 11 am today be changed to a later time to be determined by him. Members will be notified of the time of the meeting later," CNN reported while quoting an official statement.

Lawmakers were slated to hear a second reading of the bill along with holding a debate on it during the meeting which is now rescheduled. 5,000 police personnel in anti-riot gear have sealed all entrances of the complex, around which the protests are being held.

The contested bill, which was proposed on April 3, has been defended by the region's pro-Beijing leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

"This is a very important piece of legislation that will help to uphold justice and also ensure that Hong Kong will fulfil her international obligations in terms of cross-boundary and transnational crimes," Lam said previously.

The protests took a violent turn on Monday as several hundred protesters clashed with police around Hong Kong's parliament.

Ignoring the huge public backlash, Lam said her administration had already made major concessions to ensure that the city's unique freedoms would be protected and that the bill's human rights safeguards met international standards.

"I and my team have not ignored any views expressed on this very important piece of legislation. We have been listening and listening very attentively," she said.

Calls for her resignation have been rampant throughout the protests against the document which was proposed on April 3.

Critics believe that the bill will leave anyone on Hong Kong soil vulnerable to being grabbed by the Chinese authorities for political reasons or inadvertent business offences, according to Al Jazeera.

They further reasoned that the newly framed extradition plan would dissolve the rights and legal protections, which were guaranteed under the city's handover from British colonial rule to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

The vast majority of the protesters is made up of young people of high school or university age. Multiple pro-independence groups, including localist political party Youngspiration, are amongst those protesting today. The party, along with Hong Kong Indigenous, started the protests on Tuesday night.

Several appeals have been made for peaceful protests, with the leaders from the Civil Human Rights group urging demonstrators to "not confront police."

The respective governments of countries like UK, USA, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan have issued travel advisories to their citizens in the wake of the protests.

Many observers have likened the latest demonstrations to the 2014 mass democracy protests, which have come to be known as the 'Umbrella Movement'. Several protesters can be seen holding umbrellas, much like the 2014 protests when the agitators used them as a tool to protect themselves from tear gas and pepper spray deployed by the police. (ANI) </s> Anti-government protestors in Hong Kong stormed into the Legislative Council building on Monday and painted the walls of the main debating chamber with graffiti, reports said. The protestors also hung a British colonial-era flag on the main podium.

Dozens of demonstrators broke through the glass door of the Legislative Council building, while shouting slogans and spray painting messages on the walls, BBC reported.

A black and white banner hoisted in the debating chamber read in Chinese: “Bow to protect rule of law. Oppose extradition,” reported AFP.

Earlier, the police had held signs warning they would use force if protesters charged the glass exterior walls of the building. They later warned that anyone who breached an internal metal gate would be arrested. According to Reuters, riot police fired pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

Thousands of people in Hong Kong took to the streets on Monday for a rally to mark the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from British to Chinese rule. This was the latest in a series of protests against the extradition bill that could allow people in Hong Kong to be sent to China for trials. The Hong Kong government has agreed to suspend the bill indefinitely, but rallies have continued amid calls for Chief Executive Carrie Lam to resign.

The protests on Monday were mostly peaceful, but a breakaway group of protestors moved to the government building around noon and began ramming the glass door with a metal trolley, but the protestors later dispersed. In the evening, some of them returned to Monday evening, some then returned to Legislative Council building and began pulling off external fencing and entered the building. Protestors then managed to open a gate inside the building and gained access to the chambers.

The Hong Kong police gave an ultimatum to protesters who seized the Legislative Council, warning that they would use “appropriate force” if they are met with resistance while clearing the area, AFP reported. </s> Anti-government protesters smashed windows of Hong Kong's Legislative Council on Monday and were trying to force their way into the building by ramming a metal cart through the glass doors, as police responded with pepper spray.

Riot police were also seen inside the building, which has been at the centre of protests in the past three weeks, driven by demands for the withdrawal of a bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland. </s> The Legislative Council (LegCo) Secretariat of Hong Kong issued a statement on Monday declaring an unprecedented red security alert and ordering that the building be evacuated amid growing violence as people protesting the city's extradition amendments attempt to storm the premises

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st July, 2019) The Legislative Council (LegCo) Secretariat of Hong Kong issued a statement on Monday declaring an unprecedented red security alert and ordering that the building be evacuated amid growing violence as people protesting the city's extradition amendments attempt to storm the premises.

Earlier in the day, which marks the anniversary of the city's 1997 return to Chinese rule, hundreds of mainly young masked protesters set up barricades on several streets in the city state, resulting in clashes with police, who were forced to use batons and pepper spray to disperse the crowds. Some of the protesters then tried to break into the LegCo building and smash tempered windows with different objects.

When the Red alert is in force, all people should leave the LegCo Complex immediately," the statement read.

This is the first time that the LegCo has had to declare a red security alert. Police officers inside the building have been ordered to detain all trespassers.

Mass rallies erupted in Hong Kong in early June as the authorities were considering adopting a bill that would allow the autonomous Chinese city to extradite suspects to jurisdictions with which it did not have an extradition agreement, including mainland China. Pressured by the protests, the government indefinitely suspended the bill, while Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam issued a public apology. However, the protesters still demand the complete withdrawal of the extradition amendments. </s> HONG KONG (AFP, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) – Riot police fired tear gas as they attempted to dislodge anti-government protesters in the early hours of Tuesday morning (July 2) in chaotic scenes in the heart of Hong Kong.

Television footage showed police wearing gas masks and shields, charging demonstrators with their batons drawn, after the protesters ignored their ultimatum to clear the building.

Hundreds of protesters had stormed the legislature on the anniversary of the city’s 1997 British handover to China, destroying pictures and daubing walls with graffiti in a direct challenge to China as anger over an extradition Bill spiralled out of control.

About a thousand gathered around the Legislative Council building in the heart of the former British colony’s financial district, some carrying road signs, while others corrugated iron sheets and pieces of scaffolding. Inside the building, some sat at legislators’ desks, and others scrawled “anti-extradition” on the chamber walls.

Police had warned they were prepared to use “appropriate force” unless the protesters dispersed from the area.

“In a short time police will go to the LegCo area to clear it. If met with obstruction or resistance, police will use appropriate force,” a police spokesman said in a video posted on the force’s Facebook page.

Hong Kong's government slammed protesters for storming the city's Parliament, accusing demonstrators of deploying "extreme violence". It called for an immediate end to the violence, saying it had stopped all work on extradition Bill amendments and that the legislation would automatically lapse in July next year.

“Some radical protesters stormed the Legislative Council Complex with extreme violence,” a government spokesman said in a statement. “These protesters seriously jeopardised the safety of police officers and members of the public. Such violent acts are unacceptable to society.”

There was no immediate response from the protesters, although some appeared to retreat as the evening wore on. Others were reinforcing their street barricades. Some of the protesters had wrapped cling film around their arms to protect their skin in the event of tear gas.

Protest organiser Civil Human Rights Front in a statement urged Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to respond to five demands: withdraw the extradition Bill, investigate the police’s use of rubber bullets on protesters at a June 12 rally, retract all references to that day's protest as a “riot”, release those arrested, and step down.

Tensions hit a flashpoint on June 12, the day when the highly contentious extradition Bill was to be read a second time, as tens of thousands of protesters dressed in black surrounded the government headquarters in Admiralty, paralysing traffic in the area and cutting off access to the Legislative Council.

Earlier in the day, a small group of mostly students wearing hard hats and masks had used a metal trolley, poles and scaffolding to charge again and again at the compound’s reinforced glass doors, which eventually gave.

The council, the mini-Parliament, issued a red alert, ordering the protesters to leave immediately.

The Legislative Council Secretariat released a statement cancelling business for Tuesday. The central government offices said they would close on Tuesday “owing to security consideration”, while all guided tours to the Legislative Council complex were suspended until further notice.

Riot police in helmets and carrying batons earlier fired pepper spray as the standoff continued into the sweltering heat of the evening. Some demonstrators removed steel bars that were reinforcing parts of the council building.

Riot police had also used pepper spray and batons to push back protesters who tried to disrupt the annual flag-raising ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition 

 Center in Wan Chai that marks Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China.

The government said during Monday's clashes some demonstrators had attacked police lines and thrown an unidentified powder at police officers. A police spokesman later said in a statement that an inspection by the Fire Services Department found that the powder was confirmed to be slightly toxic and could cause skin irritation with prolonged contact.

Lam had suspended the Bill on June 15 after some of the largest and most violent protests in the city in decades, but stopped short of protesters’ demands to scrap it.



 

 Protesters wave a banner after breaking into the Legislative Chambers on July 1, 2019. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI 



The Beijing-backed leader is now clinging on to her job at a time of an unprecedented backlash against the government that poses the greatest popular challenge to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.

Opponents of the extradition Bill, which would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party, fear it is a threat to 

 Hong Kong’s much-cherished rule of law.

Hong Kong returned to China under a “one country, two systems” formula that allows freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, including freedom to protest and an independent judiciary.
The Legislative Council delays "to a later time" the second reading of the new legislation on extradition as thousands of protesters, who blocked key roads around government buildings, were confronted by police in riot gear using pepper spray. Despite widespread opposition, the government had said it will continue to push for passage.