More than 1 million protest in Hong Kong, organizers say, over Chinese extradition law

Trump urges Chinese leader Xi to meet Hong Kong protesters

Trump urges Chinese leader Xi to meet Hong Kong protesters


AFP•August 15, 2019

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Military trucks and armored personnel carriers outside the Shenzhen Bay stadium in Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong (AFP Photo/STR)

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Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump said Thursday that a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Hong Kong's pro-democracy activists could lead to a "happy" ending to months of protests.

"If President Xi would meet directly and personally with the protesters, there would be a happy and enlightened ending to the Hong Kong problem. I have no doubt!" Trump tweeted.
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Yeah, they'd kill him.
 
China lashes out at Taiwan over Hong Kong asylum offer

China lashes out at Taiwan over Hong Kong asylum offer


KELVIN CHAN and YANAN WANG

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Associated Press•August 19, 2019

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Hong Kong Protest Washington
A man with a sticker that reads "I Stand With Hong Kong" on his glasses gathered with others in Lafayette Square in front of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in solidarity with the "Stand With Hong Kong, Power to the People Rally" in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

HONG KONG (AP) — China lashed out at Taiwan on Monday over its offer of political asylum to participants in Hong Kong's pro-democracy protest movement, a day after hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully in the latest massive demonstration in the Chinese territory.

The government of Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers its own territory, strongly supports the protests, and Hong Kong students in Taiwan held events over the weekend expressing their backing. Taiwan's president made the asylum offer last month, though it's not clear if requests have been received.

Taiwan lacks a formal legal mechanism for assessing and granting asylum requests, although it has granted residency to several vocal opponents of the Chinese government.

On Monday, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office, said Taiwan's offer would "cover up the crimes of a small group of violent militants" and encourage their "audacity in harming Hong Kong and turn Taiwan into a "heaven for ducking the law."

Ma demanded that Taiwan's government "cease undermining the rule of law" in Hong Kong, cease interfering in its affairs and not "condone criminals."

Organizers said at least 1.7 million participated in Sunday's Hong Kong rally and march, although the police estimate was far lower. Police said the protest was "generally peaceful" but accused a large group of people of "breaching public peace" afterward by occupying a major thoroughfare and using slingshots to shoot "hard objects" at government headquarters and pointing lasers at police officers.

The protests have at times been marked by violent clashes with police, who say they have arrested more than 700 participants since the demonstrations started in June. However, law enforcement officers kept a low profile Sunday, with no riot police seen from the procession's main routes. When stragglers convened outside a government complex in the late evening, other protesters urged them to go home.

More protests are planned for the coming weeks, with various rallies organized by accountants, transport workers, high school students and relatives of police officers.
 
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Why is UK, the international custodian of human rights, not raising the issue of Hong Kong in the UNSC. They are a party to this dispute.
 
S. A. T. A said:
Why is UK, the international custodian of human rights, not raising the issue of Hong Kong in the UNSC. They are a party to this dispute.
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The UK gave away Hong Kong to China in 1997 under an agreement which was supposed to grant them full autonomy for 50 years. So in a sense, China is breaching that agreement by imposing any restrictions on Hong Kong before 2047, be it the demand to pre-approve elected officials or this extradition rule. But then, China breaks treaties and international law at a whim.
 
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BMD said:
The UK gave away Hong Kong to China in 1997 under an agreement which was supposed to grant them full autonomy for 50 years. So in a sense, China is breaching that agreement by imposing any restrictions on Hong Kong before 2047, be it the demand to pre-approve elected officials or this extradition rule. But then, China breaks treaties and international law at a whim.
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And what's Boris "The Rube" Johnson doing about it except for sucking up to the Chinese for more investments?
 
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BMD said:
The UK gave away Hong Kong to China in 1997 under an agreement which was supposed to grant them full autonomy for 50 years. So in a sense, China is breaching that agreement by imposing any restrictions on Hong Kong before 2047, be it the demand to pre-approve elected officials or this extradition rule. But then, China breaks treaties and international law at a whim.
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I think Royal Navy should blockade Hong Kong and ensure China faces severe consequences.
 
China has reached a stage, India to a lesser extent, where it can get away with any action, save a military challenge to US..... China's only concern will be copy cat movements on the mainland. Expect China to crackdown with military force if the HK authorities fail to handle this any quicker..
 
Chanting Anti-Beijing Slogans, Protesters Defy a Police Ban to March Through Downtown Hong Kong

Chanting Anti-Beijing Slogans, Protesters Defy a Police Ban to March Through Downtown Hong Kong


TIME Staff

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Time•September 15, 2019

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Protesters in Hong Kong once again defied a police ban Sunday to march through the enclave’s downtown districts in their push for greater political freedom.

Shopping malls, department stores and office buildings in the tourist and retail district of Causeway Bay pulled their shutters down around lunchtime as protesters began to congregate. Many carried the U.S. flag, and even banners for President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, as they flooded the streets in their thousands chanting “Resist Beijing! Liberate Hong Kong!”

The former British colony’s democracy movement has repeatedly called for foreign intervention in its struggles with Beijing. Earlier on Sunday, a few dozen protesters gathered at the British consulate, waving Union Jacks and singing “God Save the Queen” as they petitioned Whitehall for assistance.

“I guess this is our last hope,” said 46-year-old marcher Selina, in reference to the appeals to Western powers for support. “Maybe with Trump or American help we can stop the police violence.”

“Americans care about freedom and rights and somehow I hope America will help us,” echoed Jackie, a 21-year-old student.

Local news broadcasts showed protesters burning the Chinese flag. They also tore down and burned a large banner that had been erected to commemorate China’s upcoming national day on Oct. 1.

By the late afternoon, protesters had set up barricades on Harcourt Road, near the city’s legislature and main government offices. They also vandalized subway stations, venting their fury at a train operator that they accuse of being in league with the the authorities by transporting riot police to demonstrations but shutting stations when protesters need to leave.

Sunday’s demonstrations come after a day of brawls across the city between protesters and pro-Beijing groups, with 25 people brought to hospital. A fire also broke out at the office of a pro-Beijing legislator.

Many protesters have threatened to escalate their campaign if the government does not meet their demands for, among other things, universal suffrage and an independent inquiry into what they say is the heavy handed way police have handled the demonstrations.

“When we say thing a quietly and peacefully and it doesn’t work you have to escalate,” Ken, a 46-year-old protester, told TIME. “We have no choice; give us a better choice.”
 
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