Hong Kong on Monday bore the scars of another night of violent protests with hard hats, umbrellas and water bottles littering some central streets, as Beijing was set to make an announcement on the Asian financial center’s worst crisis since 1997.
In a highly rare move, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing, which has Cabinet-level authority over the former British colony, is due to hold a news conference at 3 p.m. regarding the unrest gripping the former British colony, which the South China Morning Post newspaper said was a first since the end of British colonial rule in 1997.
The move comes after another weekend of fierce clashes between protesters and police, who again fired rubber bullets and tear gas as the demonstrations grow increasingly violent.
Police on Sunday sought to defend China’s main representative office in Hong Kong from protesters for the second consecutive weekend, with the building near the heart of the financial center fortified with barricades.
Police said they had arrested at least 49 people in relation to Sunday’s protests for offenses including unauthorized assembly and possession of offensive weapons.
With demonstrators dispersed across four separate districts over the weekend, it was hard to tell how many took part compared with previous weeks. Protesters said thousands joined the airport sit-in, and about 300,000 people took part in Saturday’s march through Yuen Long, where train commuters, including a lawmaker, were attacked last weekend. Police wouldn’t estimate crowd sizes because all but one protest lacked a permit. Injuries — some serious — were reported among demonstrators and police.
Millions have taken part in street protests against a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed criminal suspects in Hong Kong to be sent to China to face trial in Communist Party-controlled courts.
The protests, which saw hundreds storm the city’s legislature on July 1, are the most serious political crisis in Hong Kong since it returned to China 22 years ago, and pose the greatest popular challenge to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.
Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that promised wide-ranging freedoms denied to citizens in mainland China.
Many fear Beijing is increasingly chipping away at those freedoms.
What began as a movement to oppose the extradition law has taken on broader demands. They include the resignation of Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leader Carrie Lam, calls for full democracy and an independent inquiry into what some say has been excessive police force against protesters.
Lam has so far refused to accede to any of the demands.
On Sunday, several protesters carried American flags as they marched, threatening to further stoke tensions between China and the U.S. even as high-level trade talks restart on Monday. Beijing this week said Washington should remove its “black hand” from Hong Kong’s protests, some of its most pointed criticism yet against what it says is American interference in the city’s affairs. The U.S. denies backing the protests.
China’s complaints have increased as the U.S. issues statements urging it to respect the rights of protesters who oppose its increasing control over the city. Xi has so far maintained support for Lam in part to avoid setting a precedent in which popular demonstrations initiate political change.
The protests have at times paralyzed parts of the financial district, shut government offices and disrupted business operations across the city. Officials have also warned about the impact of the unrest on Hong Kong’s economy.
