Protests In Hong Kong

[Stuart Galbraith]

There was a case the other day where the Police arrested some protesters apparently armed with explosives, ive not seen any more on that anywhere? Probably turned out to be fireworks I guess.

[JasonJ]

There was a PLA general giving a speech in November last year saying that the problems in HK are due to education. That they need to be educated with the right textbooks, that this social situation is worse than in Taiwan. The source of the bad education are from people were educated by the British system and by the people that ran away from the CCP during the Chinese Civil War who hate the CCP.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Ah, dear old Communists, they always return to first principles. The system cant be bad, so it must be the people at fault.

[Panzermann]

Do note thaat the PLa is actually one of the largest publishers and printing houses in the world. The general just want s to sell more books.

 

 

---

 

in other news masked people in white clothes attacked protestors:

 

 

https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/07/22/just-chaos-bloodshed-hong-kong-district-hundreds-masked-men-assault-protesters-journalists-residents/

[Nobu]

The Chinese version of the Proud Boys have apparently arrived.

 

And I thought the fistfights in Taiwanese/Republic of Chinese/Whateverese sessions of parliament were entertaining.

[Adam_S]

It looks like the PRC has turned to the brownshirts white T-shirt guys to sort things out. There were some mutterings on the news this morning about finding caches of explosives somewhere too. My guess is that this is not going to end well.

 

I'm disappointed and slightly surprised by the complete lack of human rights charities and the like calling for a boycott of Chinese goods. I guess people like cheap iPads too much to really care.

[Jeff]

It looks like the PRC has turned to the brownshirts white T-shirt guys to sort things out. There were some mutterings on the news this morning about finding caches of explosives somewhere too. My guess is that this is not going to end well.

 

I'm disappointed and slightly surprised by the complete lack of human rights charities and the like calling for a boycott of Chinese goods. I guess people like cheap iPads too much to really care.

Champions of freedom and liberty.

[sunday]

Chinese copy of the famous "polite little green men"?

 

Of course, as these are a Chinese copy, the politeness suffers.

[Nobu]

...slightly surprised by the complete lack of human rights charities and the like calling for a boycott of Chinese goods.

 

Trump's endorsement of the Chinese leadership's handling of the protests a few hours ago does not inspire confidence in the possibility of their doing so anytime soon.

 

It also does not inspire confidence in the autonomy of the human rights movement as something other than a policy tool in various ways.

[rmgill]

When Trump says undiplomatic things about foreign governments. He's wrong. When he says diplomatic things, he's wrong.

On the other hand, the army of silicon valley and woke news publications care little about real ethics, they'll take money from Jeffry Epstein Publicists OR from the Chinese government for what ever they will pay, ethics be damned.

[rmgill]

[JasonJ]

Protesters using a cone and some liquid, maybe just water, on tear gas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI4o_5uaNcU

[Stuart Galbraith]

I am in absolute awe here. There have their drill down slick.

[JasonJ]

Yeah, I thought it was well done too.

[Nobu]

Unless the anarchist cookbook has become required reading in Hong Kong's public schools, those do not look exactly like your everyday Hongkongese.

 

More like ANTIFA.

[Stuart Galbraith]

You mean (cue dramatic music) DEMOCRATS?

[BansheeOne]

Hong Kong protests: Chinese army releases anti-riot video seen as warning

1 August 2019

China's army in Hong Kong has released a three-minute video showing troops carrying out "anti-riot" exercises, in what is being seen as a thinly veiled warning to pro-democracy protesters.

 

The video, posted to social media, begins with a soldier shouting: "All consequences are at your own risk."

 

Tensions are high in Hong Kong after weeks of anti-government protests.

 

On Wednesday, more than 40 activists appeared in court charged with rioting, after Sunday's protest turned violent.

 

If convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison.

 

Hong Kong, a former British colony, is part of China but enjoys unique freedoms not seen on the mainland.

 

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has so far stayed out of the protests that have gone on for eight consecutive weekends and brought parts of central Hong Kong to a standstill - leaving the territory's police to deal with the unrest.

 

But at a reception to mark the 92nd anniversary of the PLA on Wednesday, the commander of the Chinese army's garrison in Hong Kong said the protests had "seriously threatened the life and safety of Hong Kong citizens, and violated the bottom line of 'one country, two systems'.

 

"This should not be tolerated and we express our strong condemnation," Chen Daoxiang said, in comments reported by the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper.

 

The army video, posted to the Chinese social media site Weibo, shows lines of troops carrying shields and batons performing anti-riot drills. It showcases tanks, rocket launchers, water cannon and barbed wire before featuring heavily armed troops descending from helicopters and shooting their way through the streets and into people's homes.

 

Protesters can also be seen being arrested and walked, with their arms tied behind their backs, to "detention points".

 

Observers believe the video was likely to have been filmed in Hong Kong because the local Cantonese dialect is spoken, and it features a Hong Kong taxi and a flag almost identical to one used by Hong Kong police.

 

The BBC's Celia Hatton, in Beijing, says earlier posts from the Chinese garrison in Hong Kong showed patriotic images of smiling soldiers. The increasingly aggressive posturing featured in the latest video will fuel concerns that China could eventually use military force to end violent protests.

 

But the Chinese government is still refusing to answer such concerns directly, our correspondent notes. When asked about the video, the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing said only that the military would be able to interpret its message.

 

[...]

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49190755

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

Well, its 30 years since Tiananmen square, so I guess we are due one.

[rmgill]

I am in absolute awe here. There have their drill down slick.

 

Asians.

 

[rmgill]

Unless the anarchist cookbook has become required reading in Hong Kong's public schools, those do not look exactly like your everyday Hongkongese.

 

More like ANTIFA.

1. I didn't see them attacking random people.

2. They're actually fighting a real authoritarian threat.

3. They're fighting a Marxist authoritarian threat.

4. Anti-fa would be on the side of the Chinese State police just going on dogma and rhetoric.

[Nobu]

They may be, but their tactics and proficiency in them are more reminiscent of the black bloc than what I would expect from average mainstream Hongkongese in various ways.

[rmgill]

That they have tactics and proficiency to work as a team and as well drilled teams indicates something rather more advanced than the black block's attack and fade tactics that make me more think of individual warriors vs coordinated teams. Their drill rather more reminds me of Japanese Police dealing with Japanese Red Army, at least of footage I saw of them in Japan in the 80s when I was there.

Black-block is VERY good at breaking glass windows, torching cars/shops and attacking random people.

Edited August 2, 2019 by rmgill

[Stuart Galbraith]

You know, you might laugh at this, but the team orientation. I wonder if they are online gamers?

 

Not quite as silly as you might think....

 

 

I once read in a book by an SAS veteran that if you are going on a protest, use paracord as shoelaces. Because the police will more than likely tie you up with zip ties. Paracord, when tied together, can be used as a saw to cut through the ties on your hand.

 

Just in case anyone wants to get all McGyver when taking on 'The Man'.

[JasonJ]

A PRC flag was thrown into the harbor by the protesters.

 

 

 

Demonstrators in Hong Kong have clashed with riot police as the city entered its third consecutive day of mass protests.

On Sunday, the police said they had arrested 20 people during Saturday’s clashes for offences including unlawful assembly and assault.

Police fired teargas and pepper spray, and pinned protesters to the ground after tense standoffs in at least four locations throughout the city on Saturday evening, following a peaceful march earlier in the day.

Thousands of protesters attending an anti-government march in Mong Kok deviated from a pre-approved route and occupied main roads in Kowloon, where they built barricades out of dismantled metal traffic barriers, handed out gas masks and helmets, and prepared to face off against police.

In Tsim Sha Tsui, a popular shopping district where protesters had gathered to evade the police, authorities fired multiple rounds of teargas outside a police station after demonstrators had thrown rubbish and traffic cones into the compound. Protesters, protecting themselves with plastic traffic barriers and construction panels, eventually retreated to a nearby university.

The police said in a statement that protesters had hurled bricks into the station and set fire to objects outside it. Police were also seen subduing demonstrators outside a police station in Mong Kok by forcing them on the ground. Photos showed demonstrators bleeding.

The demonstrations, which began in early June over a proposal to allow extradition to China, have taken on new demands and gained momentum after a violent attack on commuters by suspected triad gangs earlier this month. Residents, opposition lawmakers and protesters have accused the police and government of colluding with the triads to suppress the demonstrations, allegations that Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, has denied.

In a separate incident, hundreds of residents and demonstrators surrounded police in Wang Tai Sin, a district in New Kowloon, late into the night, where protesters threw helmets and umbrellas at police and demanded they release protesters believed held there. Residents called the police “black society”, a term to refer to gangsters, and chanted: “Hong Kong police, breaking the law!”

As clashes continued into the early morning on Sunday, demonstrators yelled at police who pepper-sprayed and fired several rounds of teargas on the group, many of them residents who were not wearing masks or other protective equipment.

Earlier in the evening, demonstrators also blocked the entrance to Hong Kong’s cross-harbour tunnel and removed a Chinese flag from a pier and threw it into the sea. A government spokesman condemned protesters for “challenging national sovereignty” while former chief executive CY Leung offered HK$1 million (almost $128,000) to anyone with information about the protesters who damaged the flag.

On Saturday, thousands also attended a rival rally held in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park, in support of the police and the government.

As the city enters its ninth week of protests, tensions are escalating as Hong Kong authorities have arrested people attending unsanctioned protests and Beijing has also issued increasingly stern threats, hinting at possible military intervention.

The protests pose the most serious challenge to China’s authority over the city since 1997, when it was returned from British to Chinese control. On Thursday, Chen Daoxiang, the head of the Chinese army garrison in Hong Kong, said the military was “determined to protect [the] national sovereignty” of Hong Kong and would help put down the “intolerable” unrest if requested. The army released a promotional video showing tanks and soldiers firing on citizens in an anti-riot drill.

ong Kong police on Thursday also charged 44 people linked to the protests with “rioting”, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Others are increasingly worried about violence and escalating police tactics, which have included firing rubber bullets as well as teargas. Police were reportedly testing water cannons.

“People are getting more scared,” said Jacqueline Chan. “But it will not change what we do. We will not [stop] because of fear.”

“Every time I think it may be the last time but I try my best,” said another protester who asked not to give her name.

Despite the arrests and warnings from Beijing, demonstrators are holding rallies for five consecutive days as more segments of Hong Kong society join young demonstrators who have made up the bulk of the protest movement.

 

Thousands of civil servants, medical workers and staff from the city’s finance sector rallied on Thursday and Friday, while further protests were planned for Sunday. Many have called for a citywide strike on Monday, which has been backed by major businesses and unions.

The focus of Saturday’s rally continued to be condemning the police but also calling on citizens to take part in the strike on Monday.

One group marching held a black banner with the words: “The police have overstepped”, while others chanted for the release of protesters who have been arrested over the last two months of demonstrations.

The protesters have vowed to keep fighting and appear to be shifting their tactics. Over the last week, dozens have surrounded police stations where the arrested are believed to be held. Others appear to be focused on gathering more support among the public, or targeting international audiences.

“If peaceful marches that disrupt the road for an afternoon or so don’t work, maybe it spills over to blockading more roads, maybe for long. If that doesn’t work? Maybe next time people would besiege a government building … It goes on and on,” said one protester, who asked to only give his first name, Chris.

“It’s like a hydra – whether it grows more heads, or its feet have become more threatening, the whole hydra has become a bigger threat.”

Still, few protesters are optimistic that their methods will ultimately change how Hong Kong is governed. The local government still ultimately answers to Beijing, which is likely to exert more rather than less control over the city following the protests, according to analysts.

Jason Keung, 22, said that even though he does not expect a meaningful change from his government, he still believes it is the duty of people like him to come out.

“We have to try to do something in this moment even though this is little or maybe not useful. We still have to try.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/03/hong-kong-police-fire-teargas-in-clashes-with-protesters

 

 

 

 

HONG KONG, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- People from all walks of life in Hong Kong have expressed their indignation over the act by some radicals of flinging the Chinese national flag into the sea.

They strongly condemned the act as a flagrant trampling on the national dignity and the principle of "one country, two systems," calling on the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) to hold the perpetrators accountable.

A video posted online on Saturday showed some black-clad radicals scaled a flagpole near Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor, and removed from it the Chinese national flag, while some accomplices used umbrellas to keep the whole act from public view.

With playful laughters, they later flung the flag into the water, according to Hong Kong media.

Leung Chun-ying, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, issued three posts on the social media to express his "strongest condemnation" of the act.

He also offered a reward of 1 million Hong Kong dollars (about 128,000 U.S. dollars) for those who offer useful information leading to the capture of whoever committed the crime.

Chan Man Ki, founding president of the Small and Medium Law Firms Association of Hong Kong, also expressed her strongest condemnation of the act, saying that it is punishable for fines and a jail term of three years according to relevant Hong Kong regulations.

Chan said from storming and vandalizing the Legislative Council (LegCo) building, storming the institution of the central government in Hong Kong and defacing the Chinese national emblem, to throwing the national flag into the sea, some radicals have been escalating their behaviors in an attempt to abuse the principle of "one country, two systems" and trample on the national dignity.

The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions issued a statement to express strong condemnation of the crime.

Noting that the misdeed of the perpetrators is an outrage and has crossed the bottom line, the statement denounced the "wirepullers" for inciting young people to undermine Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.

A statement issued by the Friends of Hong Kong Association condemned the act and called on the SAR government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The New People's Party also slammed the act as being "lawless" and "an insult and challenge to state sovereignty."

Kaizer Lau Ping-cheung, a Chinese national political advisor, said the extremist act was an "outrage" and a "serious crime" and must be punished.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/04/c_138282639.htm

[JasonJ]

Dated Aug 3rd