Video shows Teresa Cheng falling as demonstrators shout ‘shame on you’
The Metropolitan police are investigating an incident in which Hong Kong’s justice minister, Teresa Cheng, fell to the ground after being surrounded by angry pro-democracy protesters outside an event in centralLondon.
The jostling on Thursday evening was the first direct altercation between demonstrators and a Hong Kong government minister since protests,now in their sixth month, erupted in the city.
Footage showed protesters, some wearing face masks and carrying phone cameras, surrounding the deeply unpopular cabinet official and yelling “shame on you”. Cheng is then seen falling to the floor, although it is not clear from video footage if she was pushed. Some protesters said she tripped on a pavement as she was jostled.
Cheng regained her feet moments later and was escorted away with no immediately visible signs of injury.
The Chinese embassy in the UK issued a strongly worded statement saying Cheng was pushed to the ground and had sustained a hand injury, and urged the British police to investigate.
“We express strong indignation and unequivocally condemn the activists,” the embassy said. “The violent and lawless perpetrators who organized via online communication committed flagrant assault on the senior official of the Hong Kong SAR government. It has once again proved that their real intention is to destabilizeHong Kong, paralyse the SAR government and undermine ‘one country , two systems’. ******
“Now, they are taking such violence abroad and into the UK. Their action deserves to be condemned not only by the entire Chinese people including the Hong Kong compatriots but also by the British public and the international community unanimously. ”
A new Hong Kong extradition law is proposed, which would allow people to be transferred to mainland China for a variety of crimes. Residents fear it could lead to politically motivated extraditions into China’s much harsher judicial system.
Large public demonstrations start as thousands march in the streets to protest against the extradition bill.
Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, introduces concessions to the extradition bill, including limiting the scope of extraditable offences, but critics say they are not enough.
The scale of protests continues to increase as more than half a million people take to the streets. Police use rubber bullets and teargas against the biggest protests Hong Kong has seen for decades.
Lam says the proposed extradition law has been postponed indefinitely.
The protests continue as demonstratorsstorm the Legislative Council, destroying pictures, daubing graffiti on the walls and flying the old flag of Hong Kong emblazoned with the British union flag. The protests coincide with the 22 nd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from the UK back to China.
Armed men in white T-shirts thought to be supporting the Chinese government attack passengers and passers-by in Yuen Long metro station, while nearby police take no action.
44 protesters are charged with rioting, which further antagonises the anti-extradition bill movement.
By now the protest movement has coalesced around five key demands: complete withdrawal of the proposed extradition bill, withdrawal of the use of the word “riot” in relation to the protests, unconditional release of arrested protesters and charges against them dropped, an independent inquiry into police behavior and the implementation of genuine universal suffrage.
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The first charges are brought against protesters forcovering their faces, after authorities bring in new laws banning face masks in order to make it easier to identify or detain protesters.
Chan Tong-kai, the murder suspect whose case prompted the original extradition bill is released from prison, saying that he is willing to surrender himself to Taiwan. The extradition bill is also formally withdrawn, a key demand of protesters.
Chow Tsz-lok, 22, becomesthe first fatality of the protests. Chow, a computer science student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), was found injured in a car park in Tseung Kwan O in Kowloon, where he was believed to have fallen one storey. Protesters had been trying to disrupt a police officer’s wedding, which was being held in the area.
A 70 – year-old cleaner who is thought to have been hit by a brick during a clash between protesters and pro-Beijing residents becomes the second person to die.
A complaint has been lodged by the Chinese embassy with the UK Foreign Office, and Cheng issued a statement urging the police to bring any alleged culprits to justice.
Cheng was walking in the street with no obvious protection on the way to give a scheduled speech at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in Bloomsbury when she was surrounded by a crowd. No police officers were visible in the footage.
She was later taken to hospital but discharged.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said in a statement that Cheng had suffered “serious bodily harm” during the altercation. She described the behavior of the protesters involved as “barbaric” and a violation of “the principles of a civilized society”.
The Chinese have long been frustrated at the reluctance of the British government to condemn Hong Kong’s protesters more unequivocally. The UK government has supported the right for peaceful protest, and condemned police overreaction.
Cheng is a detested figure among the protesters since her department is in charge of prosecuting demonstrators.
She is also regarded as having played a key role in pushing forward thenow-shelved extradition billto China, which sparked the unrest.
The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators said Cheng had been invited as the first woman and past-president to deliver its prestigious Alexander lecture in London. She was due to argue that Hong Kong was a hub for dispute resolution.
In Hong Kong, protests have tipped intoworsening violence with two people deadin a week and further protests planned for Friday.
Protesters caused widespread disruptionfor a fifth straight day on Fridaywith barricades and rallies.
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