Hong Kong protesters disperse after police complex blockade

[HONG KONG] Thousands of demonstrators who surrounded Hong Kong police headquarters dispersed peacefully after they had blocked all entrances to the building for 15 hours as part of ongoing protests over a proposed China-backed extradition bill.

Protesters began converging on the police complex in the Wan Chai district on Friday after moving over from the nearby central government building, which chief executive Carrie Lam preemptively shut amid threats of demonstrations. The protesters are demanding the repeal of the extradition law and that all charges be dropped against demonstrators who clashed with police last week.

An estimated of 50,000 people turned up at the rally's peak, though the crowd shrank to a few hundred after midnight before it was dispersed around 3 am, said Roy Kwong, a legislator who attended the protest until the end. The demonstration was peaceful and this large-scale sit-in protest could become the mode of social movement in Hong Kong in the future.

"Hong Kong people are increasingly getting used to this mode of protest -- gather and disperses peacefully at any time, anywhere, and this could be the future of social movement in the city," Kwong said in a telephone interview. "It's ebb and flow like water," he added, alluding to the famous saying of the late martial arts star Bruce Lee.

People used barriers to block entries and exits to the police building, pelted it with eggs and drew graffiti on the walls, police said in a statement.

"Police have shown the greatest tolerance to the protesters who assembled outside PHQ, but their means of expressing views have become illegal, irrational and unreasonable," according to the statement. "Police will stringently follow up on these illegal activities."

The siege showed the Beijing-backed government was still struggling to quiet unrest almost a week after Lam decided to suspend the controversial legislation that would've allowed extraditions to China. Opponents have called for the bill's complete withdrawal, Lam's resignation and for the government to rescind its description of a rowdy June 12 protest outside the Legislative Council chamber as a "riot situation."

Hundreds of thousands of people joined the Hong Kong protests, which focused global attention on the growing anxiety over China's commitment to the former British colony's autonomy. The disruptions come at an awkward time for the government, with Chinese President Xi Jinping due to meet US President Donald Trump next week on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Japan.

BLOOMBERG