LIVE UPDATES: Hong Kong Protest Organizer Is Planning Another Protest

LIVE UPDATES: Hong Kong Protest Organizer Is Planning Another Protest
Hong Kong Activist Agnes Chow (2nd from right) and foreign students In Japan hold up a placard which says No China Extradition pose for a photo on June 12, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Keith Tsuji/Getty Images)

Update: June 13, 7:50 a.m EDT

Hong Kong Legislative Council Delays Debate on Extradition Bill For Third Day

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) has just canceled its full council meeting for Friday, June 14.

The cancellation was announced by Andrew Leung, the pro-Beijing head of LegCo, in a council press release.

The announcement stated, “the Council meeting of June 12, 2019, will not be held tomorrow (June 14).” It added that Leung will make another announcement after he decides the time of a replacement meeting.

Update: June 13, 6:50 a.m EDT

The organizer of the June 9 protest that drew over a million people to the streets in Hong Kong is planning to hold another march on Sunday, June 16.

The Civil Human Rights Front announced their intentions in a Facebook post on June 13.

The application also includes holding a rally for what they’re called the “three suspensions,” encouraging people to stop work, stop classes, and stop the markets next Monday, June 17.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA), a professional organization of barristers, became the latest in the special administrative region to voice condemnation against the use of force by the local police against protesters on June 12.

In a statement on its website, HKBA wrote that it had “grave concern” over how the police “appeared to have acted in disregard of the safety and well-being of protesters and frontline journalists covering the protest.”

These police actions include the “deployment of wholly unnecessary force against largely unarmed protesters who did not appear to pose any immediate threat to the police or the public at large.”

The statement added that the police may have “overstepped its lawful powers in maintaining public order.”

HKBA also called on the Hong Kong government to “engage in dialogue with the community and reconsider its stance” toward the extradition bill.

Yesterday, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) issued a statement condemning the police for “totally ignoring the safety of journalists and severely trampling on their right to reporting,“ according to Hong Kong Free Press.

Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam, writing on his Facebook page, stated that he has demanded an emergency question-and-answer legislative session with the Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu.

Tam stated that one of the questions he wanted to ask was who authorized the use of tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters on June 12.

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Notices of anti-extradition bill are seen near the Legislative Council building in Hong Kong, on June 13, 2019. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)
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A protester holds a sign following a day of violence over an extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial, in Hong Kong, on June 13, 2019. (Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Update: June 13, 4:30 a.m EDT

Public Outrage Against Hong Kong Leader Carrie Lam Growing by the Minute

Calls for Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to delay a legislative council debate on the controversial extradition bill intensified on June 13 when 66 current and former directors of Hong Kong’s social service agencies submitted a joint statement calling for Lam to begin public consultation over the matter, according to a press release by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, a federation of non-governmental agencies.

“The current situation is dire. Everyone who loves Hong Kong and cherishes our next generation is worried,” the statement read. “As a result, we are making a call, that is we are hoping that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to make a switch decision, which is postponing the [legislative] process on the extradition bill, and initiative in-depth public consultation.”

NTD Photo
Protesters hold up signs that read “Stop Violence Against Hong Citizens” and “Stop Shooting At Hong Kong Students” at the Citic Bridge in Hong Kong on June 13, 2019. (Cai Wenwen/The Epoch Times)

Meanwhile, Joseph Wong, former secretary of Hong Kong’s Civil Service, denounced local police for opening fire on protestors during a confrontation on June 12 when some protesters tried to cross the police line close to the entrance of the legislative council. Wong equated the police response to that of “hunting prey” in an interview with Hong Kong public radio broadcaster RTHK.

“I see policemen aiming at protesters and firing [rubber] bullets, and I saw young people being hit on the head,” Wong said. “We should keep a balance and not just blame everything on the protesters and label them as ‘rioters.’”

Police and civilians were injured in the altercation.

Earlier, Lam had called the protests “organized riots.”

Wong said, “This has never happened before in Hong Kong. It is very sad for Hong Kong to have a chief executive in Carrie Lam.”

Overnight after most of the crowd had dispersed, some students were seen taking up the civic duty of cleaning the streets where items had been left following the chaos just hours earlier.

Hong Kong singer Denise Ho shared a video on Twitter, saying how proud she was that Hong Kong people were volunteering to pick up trash at 2 a.m.

The cleaning continued into the morning on June 13.

RTHK reported that 21-year-old university student Cherry Chen, who took part in the protest on June 12, and her friends were cleaning outside of the Hong Kong government headquarters on June 13.

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People clear rubbish outside the Legislative Council building after violent clashes during a protest against a proposed extradition bill with China in Hong Kong, on June 13, 2019. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

“I am just trying to fulfill my civic responsibility,” Chan said. “We have to clean up all the rubbish and rebuild the area and not increase the burden on workers.”

Update: June 13, 3:25 a.m EDT

Two Protesters Arrested on “Rioting” Charges

According to an exclusive report from South China Morning Post, there have now been two arrests confirmed from the June 12 protests for rioting.

Police had arrested 19 protesters in the early hours of the morning on June 10 following the June 9 march.

The individuals were arrested at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon where they had presented themselves to medical staff for injuries sustained during the clash with police.

News of the arrests came after Police Commissioner Stephen Lo Wai Chung called the altercations between protesters and police on Wednesday afternoon a “riot.”

Update: June 13, 12:33 a.m EDT

Hong Kong Legislative Council Delays Debate on Extradition Bill For Second Day

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) has just canceled its full council meeting for Thursday, June 13, after protesters gathered for a second day around the LegCo building in Admiralty to protest the government’s extradition bill.

Hong Kong media reported that a few thousand people had gathered on roads near the LegCo building in anticipation of the legislative session.

The cancellation was announced by Andrew Leung, the pro-Beijing head of LegCo, in a council press release.

The announcement stated, “the Council meeting of June 12, 2019, will not be held today (June 13).” It added that Leung will make another announcement after he decides the time of a replacement meeting.

Some protesters at Tamar Park, which is located next to the council building, packed up and left upon hearing that the debate was postponed.

Prior to the LegCo’s cancellation announcement, several lawmakers of the pan-democracy camp held a press conference condemning how Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam had called the protests “organized riots,” according to Hong Kong radio broadcaster 881903.com.

Hu Chi-wai, the current chairman of the Democratic Party, said Lam’s remarks reminded him of what happened in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in 1989.

Leung Yiu-chung, a member of the pro-democracy Neighborhood and Worker’s Service Center and part of the pan-democracy camp, spoke of an incidence during the June 12 protests, when unnamed police officers snatched saline water away from the hands of EMT personnel, preventing the medical staff from providing care to protestors. Leung Yiu-chung called such police action “inhumane.”

One day earlier, tens of thousands of people had joined another peaceful mass protest outside the council building, hoping to make a final plea with lawmakers to drop the bill before its second reading in the council, which is controlled by a pro-Beijing majority.

A bout of violence broke out hours into the protest around 3 p.m. local time, when local police began using pepper spray to stop protestors charging across police lines outside the LegCo building. Some protesters were also throwing plastic bottles at police.

According to onsite reporters from the Hong Kong bureau of The Epoch Times, Lam Cheuk-ting, a Democratic Party politician who was at the scene, was hit by police with pepper spray.

Police then fired rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators.

Around 4:20 p.m. local time, Hong Kong Police Commissioner Stephen Lo Wai Chung confirmed that the police had used tear gas, rubber bullets, and bean bags in an attempt to clear protesters around Admiralty where the government buildings are located, according to Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP).

Chung told a press conference, “We had no choice but to use weapons to stop these protesters from barging at our defence lines.”

The number of people injured, including police officers, on June 12 increased from 72 to 79, according to Hong Kong’s public radio broadcaster RTHK. Their ages range from 15 to 66.

Currently, two of the injured are in critical condition at the Queen Mary Hospital. Another 64 have been discharged from various hospitals.

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Protestors hold up signs in protest against a proposed extradition bill at the Citic Bridge in Hong Kong on June 13, 2019. (Li Yi/The Epoch Times)
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Police officers in riot gear at the Citic Bridge in Hong Kong on June 13, 2019. (Li Yi/The Epoch Times)

Update: 7:03 p.m. EDT

Electors Who Voted in Chief Executive Carrie Lam Call for Her to Step Down

Over 200 members from Hong Kong’s Election Committee have called on the Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to step down hours after she made a televised appearance vowing to press ahead with the controversial extradition bill.

According to Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao, members of the committee that elected Lam to the city’s top leadership position in 2017 expressed disappointment that she ignored public opinion, as over 1 million protesters—about 1 in every 7 Hong Kongers—had taken to the streets to oppose the bill on the weekend.

The 208 committee members who signed their names to the statement represent 17 percent of the near-1200-member committee.

Earlier Lam turned tearful in a television interview with Hong Kong broadcaster TVB, in which she admitted that the bill was controversial, but said she had “sacrificed” a lot for the city.

Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun, however, said that Lam was shedding “crocodile tears,” the Hong Kong Free Press reported.

72 Injured After Police Clash with Protesters in Hong Kong

Hong Kong police said 72 people were injured, with two in critical condition, after local protests escalated on June 12, according to local media.

Tens of thousands had gathered peacefully outside the city’s legislature in protest of a controversial extradition bill that would allow mainland China to seek extradition of suspects wanted by the Chinese regime.

WARNING: The following video contains disturbing footage

NTD Photo
Police officer fires tear gas at protesters during a demonstration against a proposed extradition bill in Hong Kong, China June 12, 2019. (Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)

The proposed amendments have drawn opposition from across all sectors of Hong Kong society. Opponents say the bill could allow the Chinese Communist Party to charge and extradite with impunity, jeopardizing the city’s autonomy.

Around 3 p.m. local time, the scene descended into chaos after some protesters attempted to break the police line. Local police used pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets, and bean bags in an attempt to remove protestors from the streets.

The Hong Kong government said debate on the bill that was due to take place at the city’s Legislative Council (LegCo) on June 12 would be delayed until further notice. The LegCo is controlled by a pro-Beijing majority; the bill is thus likely to pass if it proceeds. LegCo head Andrew Leung has vowed to fast-track the bill and bring it to a vote on June 20.

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Hong Kong police fired off tear gas at the protesters on June 12. (The Epoch Times)
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Protesters retreated to the street near the Far East Finance Centre in Hong Kong after police fired off tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd. (Dennis Law/The Epoch Times)
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Protesters retreated to the street near the Far East Finance Centre in Hong Kong after police fired off tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd. (Dennis Law/The Epoch Times)
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Police fired off tear gas on Tim Mei Avenue in Hong Kong on June 12, 2019. (Li Yi/The Epoch Times)
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Police fired tear gas toward the protesters over 10 times near the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, on June 12, 2019. (Song Bilong/The Epoch Times)
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Police fired tear gas toward the protesters at the Admiralty Centre in Hong Kong, on June 12, 2019. (Li Yi/The Epoch Times)

From The Epoch Times

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