Asia Pacific|Protesters Besiege Hong Kong After Rally Near US Consulate
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HONG KONG – A pro-democracy demonstration on Sunday near the United States Consulate in Hong Kong quickly devolved into vandalism and street chaos, suggesting that protesters were not mollified by a recent concession from the city’s leader.
The violence came on the heels ofthe first notable displays of unrestsince Carrie Lam, the city’s leader, announced on Wednesday that she wouldformally withdraw the contentious extradition billthat spurred the protests in June.
The march to the consulate on Sunday was an effort to drum up support for a bill that is moving through th e United States Congress. It would penalize officials in mainland China and Hong Kong who suppress freedoms in the semiautonomous Chinese territory, and require an annual justification for why the United States should offer Hong Kong special trade and business privileges.
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And if the legislation were to further damage a Hong Kong economy that is already hurting from nearly three months of street demonstrations, the protesters could lose support from a general public that is somewhat disillusioned by their violent tac tics.
Still, in a city where many people fear that Beijing is steadily destroying their freedoms, many protesters believe that anything that keeps their demands high on the international agenda is worth
“Freedom and democracy is more important than economics,” said Brian Chan, 23, an engineer who joined the march Sunday afternoon.
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“Hong Kong people who love this place from their hearts want freedom,” he added. “The economy of Hong Kong is good, but most people don’t benefit.”
The march began peacefully, as hundreds of thousands rallied in a park and on streets near the consulate. Some protesters sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” waved American flags and held a large blue-and-white banner that read: “President Trump, please liberate Hong Kong.”
“Resist Beijing!” The crowd chanted in English. “Liberate Hong Kong!”
But within hours, hard-core demonstrators on the fringes of the rallyhadsmashed windowsand vandalized ticket vending machines and escalators in Central Station , a vital transit hub for shoppers and commuters. Some of them set a fire outside a station entrance.
Police officers in riot gear made arrests as they patrolled Central Station, and at least one of them fired a rubber bullet to disperse protesters. By nightfall, the police s were chasing protesters through several neighborhoods on Hong Kong Island, and spraying tear gas and making arrests in the Causeway Bay shopping district.
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Fernando Formaciari, a 60 – year-old fashion executive from Italy who travels frequently to Hong Kong, said he was concerned about the how protests would affect the retail industry.
“When stores are closed, it affects business,” he said. “We hope in the end the government would find a political compromise . ”
The Chinese government has accused the United States and other Western countries of sowing the seeds of discontent and attempting to foment a “revolution” in Hong Kong, albeit without providing credible evidence to support that claim.
Before the march on Sunday, the United States Consulate issued a “demonstration alert”on its website saying that the march and other events over the weekend might disrupt transportation around the city. A spokesman at the consulate declined to comment on the demonstrations.
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CreditLam Yik Fei for The New York Times
The bill making its way through Congress,the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, was introduced in June by Representative Chris Smith, Republican of New Jersey. Similar legislation has been floating around Washington for years, and the latest version haswide bipartisan support in Congress.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated her support for the bill in a statement on Wednesday, saying that it would “reaffirm the US commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the face of Beijing’s crackdown. ”
President Trump, by contrast,has sent mixed signals on the Hong Kong protests. He suggested last month that China should settle the problem “humanely” before reaching a trade deal with the United States, for example. But he has also called the protests “riots,” echoing the language of the Chinese government.
The protests have prompted the banking hub’s worst political crisis since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, and the movement’s demands have gradually expanded since June to include broad calls for political reform and police accountability
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But aside from promising on Wednesday to withdraw the extradition bill, Mrs. Lam, Hong Kong’s deeply unpopular leader, has so far declined to engage on the other demands.
Separately, the local news media reported on Sunday that the political activist Joshua Wong had was arrested at Hong Kong’s airport upon returning from a trip to Taiwan, apparently for violating the conditions of his release from prison in August.
Mr. Wong, 22, was released from prison in June after serving two months for convictions related to pro-democracy protests that convulsed the city in 2014. But he wasarrested again last monthon charges of unlawfully organizing a June rally in which protesters blockaded the headquarters of the Hong Kong Police Force.
In a statement on Sunday evening, Mr. Wong said that he believed a mistake had been made on his bail certificate and that he expected to be released after a hearing on Monday morning.
Ezra Cheung, Tiffany May and Elaine Yu contributed reporting.
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