WELCOME TO CRYSTAL RAINBOW’S BLOG: INSIGHTS... HISTORICAL EVENTS... ABADONED AND FORGOTTEN HISTORIES... UNFORGETTABLE INCIDENTS OF THE PAST...
Saturday, 27 September 2014
Activists step up protests in Hong Kong
Thousands surround government headquarters in
pro-democracy campaign demanding open
nominations for 2017 vote.
Violent clashes between Hong Kong riot police
and students have galvanised tens of thousands
of supporters for the city's pro-democracy
movement who continue to occupy the heart of
the city's financial centre.
Leaders and supporters of Occupy Central with
Love and Peace rallied to support students who
were doused with pepper spray early on Saturday
after they broke through police barriers and
stormed the city's government headquarters.
Occupy is demanding that China withdraw its
framework for political reform in the former
British colony and resume talks.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997
under a formula known as "one country, two
systems" that guaranteed a high degree of
autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed in mainland
China. Universal suffrage was set as an eventual
goal.
But China last month rejected demands for
people to freely choose the city's next leader,
prompting threats from activists to shut down
Central, Hong Kong's financial district. China
wants to limit elections to a handful of candidates
loyal to Beijing.
Al Jazeera's Rob McBride, reporting from the
protest site on Sunday, said the environment was
tense in the square as demonstrators continued
their sit-in action and police barricades were kept
in place.
"The movement has grown by thousands in
hours. Things have grown faster than anticipated
by anybody. Protesters are waiting for the
reaction of the Beijing government."
Act of civil disobedience
Roads in a square block around the city's
government headquarters, located in the
Admiralty district adjacent to Central, were filled
with people and blocked with metal barricades
erected by protesters to defend against a possible
police crackdown.
The demonstration, which has drawn thousands
of protesters armed with goggles, masks and
raincoats in preparation for a violent
confrontation with police, is one of the most
tenacious acts of civil disobedience seen in post-
colonial Hong Kong.
AFP news agency said that 74 people had been
arrested so far by the city's police.
The latest protests escalated after demonstrators
broke through a cordon late on Friday and scaled
perimeter fences to invade the city's main
government compound in the culmination of a
week-long rally to demand free elections.
Student leaders said about 80,000 people
participated in the rally.
No independent estimate was available.
The clashes were the most heated in a series of
anti-Beijing protests that underscore the central
government's challenge to stamp its will on Hong
Kong.
"Whoever loves Hong Kong should come and join
us. This is for Hong Kong's future," Jimmy Lai, a
publishing tycoon, told Reuters news agency.
Lai, an outspoken critic of China's communist
government, has backed pro-democracy activists
through publications that include one of the city's
biggest newspapers as well as donations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Featured post
AFRICA: THE TRIBE CALLED “YORUBA” IN NIGERIA
RANDOM FACTS ABOUT YORÚBÀ THAT PUTS NIGERIA ON THE MAP💫 1.The richest estate in Nigeria is found in yorubaland 🤞. RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ...
-
The Kaduna State Government says it is concluding work on the establishment of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the massacre in Zaria b...
-
An intricate statue, carved out of steatite more than four thousand years ago, Priest-King (as the figure has come to be known) is among...
-
Barack Obama Sr., father of the 43rd President of the United States, was born in the Rachuonyo District, in the then British colony of Ken...
No comments:
Post a Comment