HK police make arrests as protests return

Hong Kong

HONG Kong police arrested scores of people including key activists as protests again flared up on city streets on Sunday after weeks of relative calm since the implementation of a national security law.

At least 90 people were arrested on charges including illegal assembly, disorderly conduct, obstructing and assaulting police, according to the authority. More than 20 people were also fined for violating social distancing rules.

Protesters marched through the Kowloon area and blocked a city street with barricades chanting pro-democracy slogans and holding up placards in defiance of social distancing restrictions on public gatherings. The unrest came on the day of Hong Kong's delayed Legislative Council election, which was pushed back a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Organisers demanded "no national security law, no health code" according to online posts ahead of the protest.

Prominent pro-democracy activists with the League of Social Democrats Figo Chan, Raphael Wong and Leung Kwok-hung were arrested, according to a Facebook post by the group. A video posted on their Facebook page appeared to show the three being taken away by police in a van.

The trio, accused by the police of leading more than 30 people to gather, were escorted into a police car and taken back to the police station for arrest," according to a translated Facebook post.

When reached by phone, police didn't immediately confirm the arrests.

Hong Kong police also arrested a 47-year-old man on Sunday for "uttering seditious words" between the end of June and August. Local media reported pro-democracy activist Tam Tak Chi had been arrested by police.

Organisers had initially promised to go ahead with the protest if more than 20,000 voted to participate in an informal online poll. Earlier on Sunday, the poll showed just under half of about 14,000 votes cast were to participate in the march, with another 35 per cent considering going and 18 per cent not attending.

Protests have been muted since Beijing imposed a security law on the city in late June. Officials are also starting to ease some social distancing measures as an outbreak in the city has subsided, but gatherings of more than two people are still prohibited. Clashes between protesters and police were a regular fixture during last year's political unrest that dragged Hong Kong's economy into a recession. The coronavirus has since continued to weigh on the economy of the financial hub.

Tension is rising amid plans by the city to institute a health code that would allow travel between Hong Kong and nearby cities in mainland China, which has raised ethical concerns among medical professionals and fears over increased surveillance among activists. BLOOMBERG