LONDON - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday he would offer millions of Hong Kongers visas and a possible route to UK citizenship if China persists with its national security law.
"Many people in Hong Kong fear their way of life -- which China pledged to uphold -- is under threat," he wrote in an article for The Times newspaper and the South China Morning Post.
"If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honour our obligations and provide an alternative."
About 350,000 people in Hong Kong currently hold British National (Overseas) passports, which allow visa-free access to Britain for up to six months, Johnson wrote.
Another 2.5 million people would be eligible to apply for one.
"If China imposes its national security law, the British government will change our immigration rules and allow any holder of these passports from Hong Kong to come to the UK for a renewable period of 12 months and be given further immigration rights, including the right to work, which could place them on a route to citizenship," he wrote.
The new law was brought in after a wave of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and approved by Beijing's rubber-stamp parliament as necessary to tackling "terrorism" and "separatism".
Opponents fear it will lead to political oppression in the financial hub, eroding freedoms and autonomy supposedly guaranteed in the 1997 handover from Britain to China.
Johnson said the Hong Kong law would "curtail its freedoms and dramatically erode its autonomy".
If implemented, "Britain would then have no choice but to uphold our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong", he wrote.
London has already announced plans to extend visa rights to those eligible for BN(O) passports and joined international condemnation of Beijing.
But Johnson's personal intervention significantly ups the pressure.
"I hope it will not come to this," he wrote, insisting that "Britain does not seek to prevent China's rise".
"It is precisely because we welcome China as a leading member of the world community that we expect it to abide by international agreements," he wrote.
He rejected as "false" claims that London organised the protests, adding: "Britain wants nothing more than for Hong Kong to succeed under 'one country, two systems'.
"I hope that China wants the same. Let us work together to make it so."
Agence France-Presse
HONG KONG -- Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters began marching in Hong Kong on New Year's Day, demanding concessions from the city's embattled government as the civil unrest that convulsed the Chinese-ruled city for over half a year spills into 2020.
Gathering on a grass lawn in Victoria Park under grey skies, citizens young and old, many dressed in black and some masked, carried signs such as "Freedom is not free" before setting off.
"It's hard to utter 'Happy New Year' because Hong Kong people are not happy," said a man named Tung, who was walking with his two-year-old son, mother and niece.
"Unless the five demands are achieved, and police are held accountable for their brutality, then we can't have a real happy new year," he added, referring to the push for concessions from the government including full democracy, an amnesty for the over 6,500 people arrested so far, and a powerful, independent investigation into police actions.
The pro-democracy march is being organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, a group that arranged a number of marches last year that drew millions.
Along the route, a number of newly elected pro-democracy district politicians mingled with the crowds on their first day in office, some helping collect donations to assist the movement.
"The government has already started the oppression before the New Year began ... whoever is being oppressed, we will stand with them," said Jimmy Sham, one of the leaders of the Civil Human Rights Front.
Thousands of Hong Kong revellers had earlier welcomed in 2020 on neon-lit promenades along the iconic skyline of Victoria Harbour, chanting the movement's signature eight-word Chinese protest couplet -- "Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our Time." -- for the final eight seconds before clocks struck midnight.
A sea of protesters then surged down Nathan Road, a major boulevard, blocking all lanes in a spontaneous march breaking out within minutes of the new decade. Some held signs reading "Let’s keep fighting together in 2020."
Overnight, police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons during some brief standoffs.
China's President Xi Jinping said in a New Year's speech that Beijing will "resolutely safeguard the prosperity and stability" of Hong Kong under the so-called "one country, two systems" framework.
Many people in Hong Kong are angered by Beijing's tight grip on the city which was promised a high degree of autonomy under this framework when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Beijing denies interference and blames the West for fomenting the unrest.
A group of 40 parliamentarians and dignitaries from 18 countries had written an open letter to Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam on New Year's Eve, urging her to "seek genuine ways forward out of this crisis by addressing the grievances of Hong Kong people."
The protest movement is supported by 59% of the city's residents polled in a survey conducted for Reuters by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute.
Demonstrations have grown increasingly violent in recent months, at times paralyzing the Asian financial center.
Protesters have thrown petrol bombs and rocks, with police responding with tear gas, water cannon, pepper spray, rubber bullets and occasional live rounds. There have been several injuries.
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SYDNEY/HONG KONG—Australians greeted the new year on Wednesday with a spectacular firework display over Sydney Harbor, despite deadly wildfires which have forced thousands to seek refuge on beaches and compelled many towns to call off their celebrations.
Hong Kong also cancelled its popular New Year's Eve fireworks in Victoria Harbor due to security concerns as pro-democracy protesters formed giant human chains and marched through shopping malls.
New Zealanders were among the first to welcome 2020, with fireworks lighting up the night sky over Auckland.
Two hours later, an estimated one million revelers gathered in Sydney Harbor to enjoy the fireworks after authorities dismissed calls by some members of the public for them to be cancelled in solidarity with fire-hit areas in New South Wales, of which the city is the capital.
Along Australia's eastern seaboard, naval vessels and military helicopters were helping firefighters to rescue thousands fleeing the wildfires that have turned swathes of New South Wales into a raging furnace.
The huge bushfires have destroyed more than 4 million hectares (10 million acres), with new blazes sparked into life almost daily by extremely hot and windy conditions in bushland left tinder-dry after a three-year drought.
Some tourists trapped in Australia's coastal towns posted images of blood-red, smoke-filled skies on social media. One beachfront photograph showed people lying shoulder-to-shoulder on the sand, some wearing gas masks.
The fires have killed at least 11 people since October - two of them overnight into Tuesday - and left many towns and rural areas without electricity and mobile coverage.
Defending the decision not to cancel Sydney's fireworks and reallocate funds to fire-affected regions, City of Sydney mayor Clover Moore said planning had begun 15 months ago and that the event also provided a boost to the region's economy.
Not everybody welcomed that decision.
"Is Sydney seriously still getting fireworks tonight when half our country is on fire," Twitter user @swiftyshaz13 said.
PROTESTS
In Hong Kong, rocked by months of sometimes violent pro-democracy demonstrations, protesters were urged to wear masks at a rally on Tuesday evening called "Don't forget 2019 - Persist in 2020", according to social media posts.
A "Symphony of Lights" was planned instead of the firework display, involving projections on the city's tallest skyscrapers after a countdown to midnight.
"This year there are no fireworks, but there will probably be teargas somewhere," said 25-year-old IT worker Sam. "For us it’s not really New Year’s Eve. We have to resist every day."
Authorities have deployed 6,000 police officers and Chief Executive Carrie Lam appealed for calm and reconciliation in her New Year's Eve video message.
The protests began in June in response to a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, where courts are controlled by the Communist Party, and have evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement.
Thousands of Indians also planned to greet the new year with protests, angered by a citizenship law they say will discriminate against Muslims and chip away at the country's secular constitution.
Protesters planned demonstrations in the capital New Delhi, now in the grip of its second coldest winter in more than a century, in the financial hub of Mumbai and other cities. (Reporting by bureau in Sydney, Hong Kong and New Delhi Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
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HONG KONG - Hong Kong police used pepper spray and made multiple arrests on Sunday as small groups of black-clad pro-democracy protesters targeted some of the city's malls, ending a rare lull in violence.
Flashmob protests and vandalism broke out in multiple locations, prompting riot police to use pepper spray and make arrests in at least two shopping centers as members of the public heckled the officers.
AFP reporters in a Sha Tin mall saw a secondary school girl and a 16-year-old boy arrested, the pair shouting out their details as officers led them away.
Earlier in the afternoon an elderly woman was knocked over in the same mall after a fight broke out when a shopper tried to stop protesters from spraying graffiti.
Masked activists had also trashed restaurants run by Maxim's, a catering giant owned by a tycoon that has become a frequent target because his daughter has criticized the pro-democracy movement.
The skirmishes are the first to break out in three weeks.
Hong Kong has been upended by six months of massive pro-democracy protests that have seen violent battles between police and hardcore demonstrators, as well as regular transport disruption.
The past month had seen a lull in the violence and vandalism after pro-democracy parties won a landslide in local council elections.
Last Sunday an estimated 800,000 marched peacefully through the streets.
But public anger remains as Beijing and city leader Carrie Lam show no sign of giving further concessions despite the election success.
Lam is currently in Beijing for an annual visit and is set to meet President Xi Jinping on Monday.
The protests were ignited by a now scrapped plan to allow extraditions to the authoritarian mainland but have since morphed into a revolt against Chinese rule.
Among the movement's demands is an independent inquiry into the police and fully free elections.
In a separate protest, around 1,000 people waving Chinese flags rallied in a park on Sunday afternoon in support of the city's police force.
Coupled with the trade war, the protests have hammered the economy and helped tip the city into recession as tourists stay way.
Hong Kong's airport on Sunday reported its steepest drop in passengers in a decade -- down 16 percent in November compared to the same month the year before.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
* Police withdraw from university campus after nearly two-week siege
* Protests planned include rally at British consulate
* Asian financial hub has seen a week of relative calm
* Local elections delivered landslide victory to pan-democrats
HONG KONG - Hong Kong police on Friday withdrew from the wreckage of a university campus damaged in weeks of clashes, as pro-democracy activists canvassed social media for support for more rallies at the weekend.
Senior faculty members of Hong Kong Polytechnic University toured the campus after police left, visiting the canteen and sports hall and inspecting smashed windows and charred piles of what used to be barricades.
After more than five months of increasingly violent demonstrations, the Chinese-ruled city has enjoying relative calm since local elections on Sunday delivered an overwhelming victory to pro-democracy candidates.
Activists are trying to keep up momentum for the movement, after winning backing from U.S. President Donald Trump that has renewed global attention on the Asian financial hub and sparked blistering warnings from Beijing.
"Many classrooms, laboratories and library were destroyed. Even so, there's been no loss of life. We insisted on adopting a humane way to solve the crisis," university president Teng Jin-Guang told reporters.
He said more than 1,000 protesters had left the campus over the last two weeks. Despite the huge damage, he said he was confident that the next semester would start on time.
At one point on Friday, a man and woman emerged from the campus wearing black face masks and walking hand-in-hand. They walked straight out and down the street, with no sign of police. Local media were not sure if they were protesters.
Demonstrators are angry at what they see as Chinese meddling in the freedoms promised when Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997. China denies interfering and says it is committed to the "one country, two systems" formula put in place at that time and has blamed foreign forces for fomenting unrest.
Beijing warned Washington of "firm counter measures" after Trump signed into law congressional legislation which supported the protesters on Wednesday.
On a visit to Bangkok, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Friday tried to reassure the Thai government and businesses that Hong Kong was still an attractive financial hub.
'WE COULD ALL BE SIMON'
Anti-government protests have rocked the former British colony since June, at times forcing businesses, government, schools and even the international airport to close.
Protesters plan to gather at the British consulate at 7 p.m. (1100 GMT) on Friday to urge the British government to protect nationals based in the Chinese territory.
That comes after a former British consulate employee, Simon Cheng, said Chinese secret police beat him, deprived him of sleep and shackled him in an attempt to force him to give information about activists leading the protests.
Posters advertising Friday's event had slogans including "We could all be Simon". Cheng is a Hong Kong citizen who worked for the British government for almost two years. "Freedom is in peril. Defend it with all your might. Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong," read another.
Other demonstrations planned over the weekend include a rally by secondary school students, a march to protest against police spraying tear gas near children and a "march of gratitude" where protesters are planning to march to the U.S. consulate.
A rally planned for Dec.8 by Civil Human Rights Front, the group that organised million-strong marches in June, is expected to provide the best gauge of how support for the pro-democracy movement is holding up.
'STILL UNSAFE'
Hundreds of police officers had earlier entered the campus to collect evidence, and remove dangerous items including thousands of petrol bombs, arrows and chemicals which had been strewn around the site.
"The current environment on campus is still unsafe, and the work on clean-up, inventory inspection and restoration will take time," the university said in a statement, announcing the removal of the police cordon.
Located on Kowloon peninsula, the campus turned into a battleground in mid-November, when protesters barricaded themselves in and clashed with riot police in a hail of petrol bombs, water cannon and tear gas. About 1,100 people were arrested last week, some while trying to escape.
Police said they found more than 3,000 Molotov cocktails and hundreds of bottles of corrosive liquids on the campus. (Reporting by Jessie Pang and Martin Pollard; Writing by Farah Master and David Dolan; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Simon Cameron-Moore & Kim Coghill)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - Hong Kong's democrats romped to a landslide and symbolic majority in district council elections after residents turned out in record numbers on Sunday to vote following six months of anti-government protests in the embattled city.
In a rare weekend lull in the unrest that has rocked the financial hub, democratic candidates across the city of 7.4 million people secured more than half of the 452 district council seats for the first time against a strongly resourced and mobilized pro-establishment opposition.
When the results began trickling in after midnight, including upset wins for democrats against heavyweight pro-Beijing opponents, some voting centers erupted in loud cheers and chants of "Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution Now" - a slogan used by many protesters on the streets over the past six months.
Some winning candidates said the result was akin to a vote of support for the demonstrators and could raise the heat on Hong Kong's pro-Beijing chief executive, Carrie Lam, amid the city's worst political crisis in decades.
"This is the power of democracy. This is a democratic tsunami," said Tommy Cheung, a former student protest leader who won a seat in the Yuen Long district close to China's border.
The voting ended with no major disruptions in a day that saw massive, though orderly, queues form outside voting centers.
Pro-democracy candidates had secured a clear majority by 8.00 a.m. (midnight GMT Sunday) with 333 of 452 seats, compared with 52 for the pro-establishment camp, according to media estimates. Democrats only secured around 100 seats at the previous polls four years ago.
Almost 3 million people voted, a record turnout of more than 71 percent that appeared to have been spurred by the turmoil, almost double the number last time.
Hong Kong's district councils control some spending and decide a range of livelihood issues such as transport. They also serve as an important grassroots platform to radiate political influence in the China-ruled city.
"PATH OF STRUGGLE"
"I believe this result is because there are a lot of voters who hope to use this election and their vote to show their support for the (protest) movement, and their five demands, and their dissatisfaction with the Hong Kong government," said former student leader Lester Shum, who won a seat.
The protesters' demands include full democracy, as well as an independent inquiry into perceived police brutality.
"The district council is just one very important path of struggle. In future, we must find other paths of struggle to keep fighting," Shum said.
The state-run China Daily newspaper said in an editorial on Monday the election "will hopefully have served as an opportunity to return the city to normal".
"The relative tranquility the city enjoyed since several days before the election suggests all stakeholders regarded it as an opportunity to air their views."
Demonstrators are angry at what they see as Chinese meddling in the freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. They say they are also responding to perceived police brutality.
China denies interfering and says it is committed to the "one country, two systems" formula for the autonomy of Hong Kong put in place in 1997. Police say they have shown restraint in the face of potentially deadly attacks.
Jimmy Sham, a leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, which organised some of the anti-government rallies, won his electoral contest, as did Kelvin Lam, who stood in after prominent activist Joshua Wong was barred from running.
A number of pro-Beijing heavyweights including Junius Ho, whose abrasive public comments have made him a hate-figure among many protesters, lost to pro-democracy challengers. He described it on Facebook as "an exceptional election, and an unusual result".
The protests started over a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial but rapidly evolved into calls for full democracy, posing the biggest populist challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - Voting at district council elections in Hong Kong began peacefully on Sunday morning, with no signs of a major police presence at polling booths monitored by Reuters despite nearly six months of sometimes violent unrest in the Chinese-controlled city.
Brutal attacks on candidates have thrust Hong Kong's lowest-tier government onto the international stage, with the district elections seen as an important barometer of support for leader Carrie Lam's embattled administration.
The South China Morning Post on Friday, citing a senior police source, said riot police for the first time would guard all polling stations and almost all officers in the 31,000 strong force would be on duty.
But Reuters witnesses at the rural district of Yuen Long near the Chinese border, Taikoo Shing on Hong Kong island, Wong Tai Sin in Kowloon and in the New Territories town of Sha Tin said there was little obvious police presence as voting was about to start at 7:30 a.m. Sunday.
Chan, 31, who was in front of the queue at the Fung Kam Sports Centre in Yuen Long said she came early because she was expecting a big turnout.
"I have not seen an election like this before, but because of the situation it is important to vote .. .and I know many people feel like me," said Chan, who works in sales.
She said she grew up in Yuen Long but did not want to reveal any political allegiances. As she spoke, election officials prepared the ballot box in the middle of a basketball court. A lone police officer watched them.
The Fung Kam polling station is one of the closest to the Yuen Long railway station where suspected triad gangsters attacked anti-government protesters and commuters on July 21.
A record 1,104 people are running for 452 district seats and a record 4.1 million Hong Kong people have enrolled to vote for district councilors, who control some local spending, and whose daily decisionmaking spans a range of neighborhood issues including recycling, transport and public healthcare.
Some of the seats that were once uncontested, and dominated by pro-Beijing candidates, are now being fought for by young pro-democracy activists.
One of the candidates running in Sha Tin is Jimmy Sham of Civil Human Rights Front, organizer of some of the mass anti-government rallies in recent months who was beaten by men with hammers in October.
The protests started over a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed people to be sent to China for trial, but which soon evolved into calls for full democracy, posing the biggest popular challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.
U.S. national security adviser Robert O'Brien said on Saturday that an initial trade agreement with China is still possible by the end of the year, but warned Washington would not turn a blind eye to what happens in Hong Kong.
The comments add to growing worries that a Chinese crackdown on anti-government protests in Hong Kong could further complicate the efforts by the United States and China to end a prolonged trade war that has roiled global markets and undercut global economic growth forecasts.
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HONG KONG - At least 8 protesters who had been holding out at a trashed Hong Kong university surrendered on Friday, while others searched for escape routes past the riot police surrounding the campus.
The siege at the Polytechnic University on the Kowloon peninsula appeared to be nearing an end with the number of protesters dwindling to a handful, days after some of the worst violence since anti-government demonstrations escalated in June.
Police chief Chris Tang, who took up the post this week, urged those remaining inside to come out.
"I believe people inside the campus do not want their parents, friends ... to worry about them," Tang told reporters.
Those who remain say they want to avoid being arrested for rioting or on other charges, so hope to find some way to slip past the police or hide.
Sitting in the largely deserted campus, one holdout described how his girlfriend had pleaded with him to surrender to the police.
He had refused, he said, telling her she might as well find another partner because he would likely go to jail.
"A man has to abandon everything otherwise it's impossible to take part in a revolution," the protester told Reuters.
The US Congress has passed legislation to back the Hong Kong protesters and threaten China with possible sanctions for human rights violations, angering Beijing.
President Donald Trump, who is seeking a resolution to a tit-for-tat tariff trade war with Beijing, was vague on Friday when asked whether he would sign the bills.
Trump said in an interview with Fox News Channel that he told Chinese President Xi Jinping that crushing the protesters would have "a tremendous negative impact" on efforts to end the 16-month trade war.
"If it weren't for me Hong Kong would have been obliterated in 14 minutes," he said, without offering any evidence.
"He's got a million soldiers standing outside of Hong Kong that aren't going in only because I ask him please don't do it, you'll be making a big mistake, it's going to have a tremendous negative impact on the trade deal and he wants to make a trade deal."
CAMPUS QUIET
The Polytechnic campus was so quiet on Friday you could hear the chants of Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers exercising on their nearby base.
Many levels of the buildings look like abandoned hideouts strewn with remains — rucksacks, masks, water bottles, cigarette butts, with security cameras smashed throughout. Lockers were stuffed with gas masks and black clothes, and a samurai sword lay on the ground where it was abandoned.
"We are feeling a little tired. All of us feel tired but we will not give up trying to get out," said a 23-year-old demonstrator, who gave his name as Shiba as he ate noodles in the protesters' canteen.
A Reuters reporter saw 6 black-clad protesters holding hands walk towards police lines, while a first aid worker said 2 more surrendered later.
The protests snowballed from June after years of resentment over what many residents see as Chinese meddling in freedoms promised to Hong Kong when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Protesters, who have thrown petrol bombs and rocks and fired bows and arrows at police, are calling for full democracy and an independent inquiry into perceived police brutality, among other demands.
Police have responded to the attacks with rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannon and occasional live rounds but say they have acted with restraint in life-threatening situations.
On Friday, Hong Kong's High Court said it would temporarily suspend its ruling that found a controversial law banning protesters from wearing face masks is unconstitutional.
The court said it would suspend its ruling for 7 days while appeals processes proceeded.
Beijing has said it is committed to the "one country, two systems" formula under which Hong Kong is governed. It denies meddling in its affairs and accuses foreign governments of stirring up trouble.
One older protester, who estimated only about 30 demonstrators remained at the university, said some had given up looking for escape routes and were making new weapons to protect themselves in case police stormed the campus.
There have been 2 days and nights of relative calm in the city ahead of district council elections that are due to take place on Sunday.
Tang said police would adopt a "high-profile" presence on Sunday and he appealed to protesters to refrain from violence so people feel safe to vote.
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SHANGHAI -- Asian equities rose on Friday, bouncing from a 3-week low touched a day earlier, but gains were capped by persistent worries over the status of trade negotiations between China and the United States.
Early in the Asian trading day, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.12 percent. The index had fallen as much as 1.41 percent on Thursday, hitting its lowest level since Oct. 30, on concerns that US legislation on Hong Kong threatened to undermine trade talks between the world's two largest economies.
Australian shares were up 0.52 percent and Japan's Nikkei gained 0.1 percent.
Worries that a "phase one" trade deal between the United States and China might not occur until next year weighed on investor sentiment on Wall Street overnight, pulling the S&P 500 down 0.16 percent to 3,103.54, the Dow Jones down 0.2 percent to 27,766.29 and the Nasdaq Composite 0.24 percent lower to 8,506.21.
Those losses were tempered by China saying it was willing to work with the United States to resolve core trade concerns, and a report in the Wall Street Journal that China has invited top US trade negotiators for a new round of face-to-face talks in Beijing.
"I was ready to give up on a trade deal yesterday. But it seems the Chinese haven't so I, we, mustn't," said Greg McKenna, strategist at McKenna Macro.
But analysts at ANZ said in a morning note that whipsawing hopes over a deal were starting to wear on investors in the 16th month of the US-China trade war.
"It's fair to say that some signs of trade-headline fatigue are emerging in markets," analysts at ANZ said in a note.
While Asian stocks ticked higher, US Treasury yields were broadly unchanged after snapping three sessions of declines on Thursday.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was at 1.7723 percent, just a hair higher than its US close of 1.772 percent on Thursday. The policy-sensitive two-year yield, was at 1.6046 percent compared with a US close of 1.605 percent.
In currency markets, the safe-haven yen was a touch stronger, with the dollar dropping 0.05 percent to 108.58. The euro was up 0.05 percent at $1.1063.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of 6 major rivals, was unchanged at 97.993.
Oil prices retreated after hitting two-month highs on a Reuters report that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are likely to extend existing output cuts until mid-2020.
US crude dipped 0.41 percent to $58.34 a barrel.
Spot gold edged up 0.04 percent to fetch $1,464.70 per ounce.
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HONG KONG, China- Pro-democracy demonstrators holed up in a Hong Kong university campus set the main entrance ablaze Monday after police surrounding the building warned they may use live rounds, deepening fears over how nearly 6 months of unrest across the city will end.
The violence extended a dangerous new phase of the crisis, which over the past week has seen schools shut down, roads barricaded and Chinese soldiers briefly leave their local barracks to clean up streets.
China has refused to budge on any of the protesters' key demands, which include free elections for the city of 7.5 million people.
China has instead repeatedly warned it will not tolerate any dissent, and concerns are growing it could intervene militarily to quell the unrest.
On Monday several loud blasts were heard around dawn before a wall of fire lit up an entrance to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), AFP reporters said, as what appeared to be a police attempt to enter the campus was repelled by protesters determined to hold their ground.
Police said they had fired 3 live rounds in the early hours of Monday at a protest site near the university but that no one appeared to have been hit.
INTENSE CLASHES
Intense clashes on Sunday, which saw a police officer hit in the leg by an arrow and protesters meet police tear gas with volleys of petrol bombs, rolled overnight across the Kowloon district, as a call went out to defend the besieged campus.
There, protesters had hunkered down under umbrellas from occasional fire from police water cannon and hurled Molotov cocktails at an armored vehicle, leaving it ablaze on a flyover near the campus.
Police declared the campus a "riot" scene -- rioting is punishable by up to 10 years in jail -- and blocked exits as spokesman Louis Lau issued a stark warning in a Facebook live broadcast.
"I hereby warn rioters not to use petrol bombs, arrows, cars or any deadly weapons to attack police officers," he said.
"If they continue such dangerous actions, we would have no choice but to use the minimum force necessary, including live rounds, to fire back."
Hong Kong police routinely carry sidearms, but until now they have only used them in isolated incidents during running street clashes with protestors. Three people have been shot, none of them fatally.
Faced with large groups throwing bricks and Molotov cocktails, the police have mostly relied on tear gas, water cannon, and rubber bullets as dispersal tools, but the new warning suggests a more active use of live rounds to counter the unrest.
'HELPLESS'
Fear gripped protesters still inside the campus -- whose occupation is a twist in tactics by a leaderless movement so far defined by its fluid, unpredictable nature.
One 19-year-old, who gave her name as "K", said there was desperation among the 200 demonstrators she estimated remained.
"Some people were crying badly, some were furious, some agonizing because they felt hopeless as we were left no way out of the campus.
"We don’t know when the police will storm in."
A few hundred meters from the campus, protesters erected barricades in the Tsim Sha Tsui and Jordan areas.
One 16-year-old, who gave his name as Joshua, said it was an attempt to draw police attention away from the university.
'BLOSSOM EVERYWHERE'
The nearly 6 months of unrest has rocked previously stable Hong Kong, tipping the international financial hub into recession and frightening off tourists.
What began as a series of mostly peaceful demonstrations against a now-shelved bill to allow extradition to the Chinese mainland has morphed into wider calls for democracy and an inquiry into alleged police brutality.
Violence has worsened this month, with two men killed in separate incidents.
Demonstrators last week engineered a "Blossom Everywhere" campaign of blockades and vandalism, which forced the police to draft in prison officers as reinforcements, shut down sections of Hong Kong's transport network and closed schools and shopping malls.
Chinese President Xi Jinping last week issued his most strident comments on the crisis, saying it threatened the "one country, two systems" model under which Hong Kong has been ruled since the 1997 handover from Britain.
Chinese state media remains robustly hostile to the demonstrations, and frequently urges Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam to brook no compromise.
On Saturday dozens of soldiers from Chinese People's Liberation Army briefly left their Hong Kong barracks to help clean-up the streets.
It was a rare and symbolic operation, as the troops are normally confined to barracks and are meant to be only called out in a time of emergency.
Chinese defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian on Monday defended the clean-up operation, as he repeated warnings from Beijing that the military had the capabilities to quell the unrest.
"Ending violence and restoring order is the most pressing task we have in Hong Kong," Wu said in Bangkok.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG -- Driven by anger at the authorities' response to massive protests - and guilt that the burden of defending democracy has fallen on the city's youth - a white collar rebellion is rippling out across Hong Kong.
Every day this week, thousands of office workers have downed tools for a few hours, responding to a call to strike in a cheekily named "Lunch With You" rally.
Faces masked, hands held aloft, many in crisp shirts -- some in suits -- they chanted pro-democracy slogans and blocked roads in business districts normally characterized by a tunnel-vision for commerce, risking arrest in a rally not sanctioned by police.
On Monday and Tuesday, they crouched under umbrellas, as police lobbed tear gas through Central, the city's financial heart, clouds drifting across the shopfronts of designer stores.
By Friday, deskbound workers deployed the tactics of street protest -- including the swift formation of two lines creating a channel for black-clad "braves" to run through carrying bricks in anticipation of a police crackdown.
"The least we can do is give up our lunchtime to come out and protest the government," said 33-year-old lawyer Jansen.
The white collar rebels share widespread anger at the now-shelved government plan to introduce a law allowing the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China.
Many initially joined the peaceful mega-rallies sanctioned by police against the bill.
Older and employed in city jobs, they mainly identified as "moderates."
But as time has passed, attitudes have calcified.
Violence against young frontline protesters, a government deaf to demands for greater democracy and a lack of police accountability has brought white-collar workers to the streets with renewed conviction.
"We keep going to work every day like nothing is happening, no matter how many students are getting injured. But I can't bear to go on like this," said a 26-year-old office worker who gave his surname as Chan.
He was wearing heavy-duty workman's gloves and helping frontliners build a roadblock in Pedder Street -- one of the city's most exclusive shopping areas and moments from its major banks.
"I've always been in the peaceful, rational, non-violent camp. But a lot has changed," he said.
Protesters fear Hong Kong's freedoms, unique within China, are in danger.
That has thrown the city's narrative of free market success and stability into perspective -- more so as the economy has tipped into recession.
"Some values in the community cannot be only measured in terms of money," said Lawrence, a 32-year-old suited finance professional.
"What I sacrificed can never be compared with those youngsters' sacrifices," he said, adding that their "futures" are on the line.
The five-day strike, which saw the city's transport network targeted by roadblocks and vandalism and brought some of the most violent unrest yet, has stretched Hong Kong police.
It has also prodded rebellion from the greatest beneficiaries of Hong Kong's once hallowed reputation for peace and stability.
"If we're peaceful they don't listen," Ms. Lau, a 52-year-old entrepreneur said.
"If you're violent they say it won't solve any problems."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG -- Pro-democracy protesters Wednesday stepped up a "blossom everywhere" campaign of road blocks and vandalism across Hong Kong that has crippled the international financial hub this week and ignited some of the worst violence in five months of unrest.
The new phase in the crisis, which has forced schools and shopping malls to close as well as the shutdown of large chunks of the vital train network, has prompted police to warn the city is on the verge of "total collapse" and a "breakdown."
China, facing the biggest challenge to its rule of the territory since it was handed back by the British in 1997, has insisted it will not buckle to the pressure and warned of even tougher security measures.
As they have since the start of the week, protesters on Wednesday choked roads and blocked traffic with anything they could lay their hands on including bricks, bicycles, couches and other materials. Key routes were targeted in morning and after-work peak hours.
Various lines on the subway -- used daily by more than half of the city's 7.5 million people -- were also suspended, forcing many workers to stay at home.
In the Central business district, hundreds of people left their offices at lunchtime to join the more hardcore protesters setting up barricades outside luxury-item shops and headquarters of big financial firms.
Masked protesters dressed in their signature black were also locked in a series of tense standoffs at university campuses, following intense clashes on Tuesday night that saw police fire tear gas and rubber bullets.
Authorities said 58 injured people -- one of them in critical condition -- were taken to hospitals during Wednesday’s unrest.
Hospital authorities did not provide details on the critical case, but local media reported that a 70-year-old man was seriously hurt from a suspected hit in the head with a brick during a clash between protesters and residents in the Sheung Shui district.
Highlighting the growing security fears, mainland Chinese students began fleeing Hong Kong on buses and boats back across the border, according to police and universities, although it was not immediately clear how many had left.
MAXIMUM DISRUPTION
The chaos was part of the largely leaderless protest movement's new strategy branded "blossom everywhere", in which small groups target as many parts of the city as possible to cause maximum disruption and stretch police resources.
Until this week protesters had largely confined their actions to evenings and the weekends.
The campaign began Monday with an effort to shut down trains and enforce a city-wide strike, and has for the first time seen three straight days of chaos during the working week.
"The rioters' intention is to bring Hong Kong into a total breakdown. No excuse, no political motives can justify or glory this madness," police spokesman John Tse told reporters on Wednesday.
A day earlier, one of his colleagues said Hong Kong was "on the brink of total collapse".
The poisonous atmosphere worsened on Monday morning when a police officer shot an unarmed 21-year-old protester, leaving him in a critical condition.
It was only the third confirmed instance police had hit someone with live rounds since the unrest began in June.
The shooting, broadcast live on Facebook, exacerbated fury among protesters about what they say is excessive police violence.
However fears have also risen about increasingly violent tactics from the protesters.
A masked person on Monday doused a 57-year-old man, who had been arguing with protesters, with a flammable liquid and set him on fire. He was also hospitalized in critical condition.
ERODING FREEDOMS
The protest movement has been fueled by anger that China is choking the liberties and freedoms that Hong Kong is meant to have under the terms of the handover deal with the British.
Protesters are demanding the right to freely elect their leaders.
Instead of offering concessions, China has responded with ominous warnings that it is prepared to further curb freedoms, and that it wants tougher security measures in Hong Kong.
On Tuesday the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of China's ruling Communist Party, signaled that local district elections due to be held on November 24 may be cancelled if the protesters do not back down.
"Only by supporting the police force to decisively put down the riots can (Hong Kong) return to peace and hold fair elections, to help Hong Kong start again," the commentary said.
Other powerful arms of the Chinese state media have also again raised the prospect this week of the Chinese military being deployed in Hong Kong to end the crisis.
Still, China is not yet prepared to take such drastic action as military intervention as it plays a longer game of weakening and intimidating the protest movement, according to Ben Bland, Sydney-based director of the Southeast Asia Project at the Lowy Institute, a policy think-tank.
"It still seems, as far as we can tell, that the most likely response is going to continue to be led by the Hong Kong authorities and the Hong Kong police," Bland told AFP on Wednesday.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON - The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Tuesday he wanted the Senate to pass legislation to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, as violence rose in the Chinese-ruled city wracked by months of unrest.
Republican Senator Jim Risch noted that he is a co-sponsor and "strong proponent" of the "Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act," which would place Hong Kong's special treatment by the United States under tighter scrutiny.
"We want it moved," Risch said during a discussion on China at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives unanimously passed the bill in mid-October, drawing accusations from Beijing that the lawmakers had "sinister intentions."
Risch's Foreign Relations committee approved a similar measure in September, but it has not been scheduled for a vote by the full Senate, which must pass the bill before it can be sent to President Donald Trump. The White House, which is engaged in intense trade negotiations with China, has yet to say whether he would sign or veto it.
Police in Hong Kong battled pro-democracy protesters at several university campuses on Tuesday in sometimes savage clashes, as parts of the city were paralyzed including Hong Kong's central financial district, which was tear-gassed for a second day running.
Those flare-ups occurred a day after police shot an unarmed protester at close range and a man was doused with gasoline and set on fire in some of the worst violence since the protests began.
Risch and fellow Republican Senator Marco Rubio are to meet on Wednesday with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss the possibility of getting floor time for a vote on the bill, aides said.
"The world needs to see that the United States will stand up and say this is wrong, we stand with the people of Hong Kong," Risch said.
Asked of McConnell would allow a vote in the Senate, a spokesman pointed to his remarks in the Senate on Tuesday expressing concern about the violence.
"I’m eager to continue working with colleagues such as Senator Risch, Senator (Lindsey) Graham, Senator Rubio, and others toward a strong and procedurally workable solution," McConnell said.
The legislation has 37 Republican and Democratic co-sponsors in the 100-member Senate. Backers say it is expected to pass easily if McConnell schedules a vote.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - A Hong Kong police officer shot at masked protesters on Monday morning -- hitting at least one in the torso -- during clashes broadcast live on Facebook, as the city's rush hour was interrupted by protests.
Footage showed a police officer drawing his sidearm in the district of Sai Wan Ho as he tried to detain a masked man at a road junction that had been blocked by protesters.
Another masked man then approached the officer and was apparently shot in the chest area, quickly falling to the ground, clutching his left side. His condition was not clear.
Seconds later, two more live rounds were fired by the officer during a scuffle and another masked man went to the ground, although the footage was less clear as to whether he was struck.
Police could later be seen detaining the two men on the ground. The first man had a pool of blood next to him, his body limp as officers moved him around and apparently tried to tie his hands.
The second man was conscious and talking.
A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AFP that live rounds were fired at more than one protester in Sai Wan Ho and that a statement would be issued.
Hong Kong has been upended by five months of huge and increasingly violent rallies, but Beijing has refused to give in to most of the movement's demands.
Tensions have soared in recent days following the death on Friday of a 22-year-old student who succumbed to injuries sustained from a fall in the vicinity of a police clearance operation the weekend before.
The city has seen four days of consecutive protests since the student's death as well as tens of thousands attending mass vigils.
Using online messaging forums, activists had called for a general strike on Monday morning.
Flashmob protests sprung up in multiple districts during the morning commuter period, with small groups of masked protesters targeting subway stations and building barricades on road junctions.
Even before the shooting in Sai Wan Ho, tear gas had been fired in at least two other locations.
Monday's shooting is the third time protesters have been shot with live rounds by police.
On 1 October a student was struck in the chest as he and a group of activists attacked an officer with sticks and poles. He survived his wound and is being prosecuted.
Days later a 14-year-old boy was shot in the leg when a policeman in plainclothes fired his gun after his car was attacked by a crowd. He also survived and was arrested.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - Hong Kong anti-government protesters crowded a shopping mall in running clashes with police on Sunday during which a man with a knife slashed several people and apparently bit off part of a local politician's ear.
A human chain in Cityplaza, in the eastern suburb of Taikoo Shing, turned into a face-to-face conflict with police, running up and down escalators where families with young children had been window shopping just minutes before and watching skating on the ice rink.
Police said protesters had vandalized a restaurant in the mall after a peaceful chanting of slogans in the 22nd straight weekend of protests by Hong Kong people furious at perceived Chinese meddling in the former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Several people were wounded, with one man in a white tee-shirt, believed to be the knifeman, being beaten with sticks by protesters. Another man lay in a pool of blood on the pavement outside the mall.
Democratic district councilor Andrew Chiu was among the wounded, blood dripping from his ear. Democratic Party lawmaker James To told reporters the knifeman had bitten off part of Chiu's ear and slashed other people.
He said the other wounded were in more serious condition than Chiu who was seen on TV holding the piece of his ear in a plastic bag with bloody hands.
A kitchen knife lay on the ground outside the mall.
Police made several arrests as protesters shouted "black police!", a reference to their perceived brutality. The standoff lasted into the night, with residents jeering police from the roadside and balconies of nearby apartments, chanting "leave now" and more colorful Cantonese expletives.
Police fired tear gas, outside the East Hotel in Taikoo Shing, to try to break up the crowds. They then left.
"These police are not what they used to be," said Julie, 24, giving police the middle finger. "They come in here and push us around. It is not right."
Police fired pepper spray at reporters when they got too close. One journalist was arrested.
“This is out of control. This was a peaceful protest. And these people are just local residents, we live around here,” said Desmond Fong, 28, who works in marketing. He was out shopping for sneakers when the protest erupted.
Taikoo Shing is an office and high-rise apartment development dating back to the 1970s, with the newer office, bar and restaurant district of Quarry Bay next door. Police said they were investigating the knife attacks.
CLEAN-UP AFTER SATURDAY'S VIOLENCE
There were also running battles, vandalism and scuffles in and around malls in the New Territories towns of Tai Po, Tuen Mun and Sha Tin, where police fired pepper spray as protesters hurled abuse. Protesters built a street barricade in Tai Po.
Pro-democracy protesters battled police across the main island on Saturday, furious at Communist Party leaders in Beijing and perceived Chinese meddling with Hong Kong's promised freedoms, which China denies.
They have vandalized Hong Kong businesses seen as being pro-China and in July daubed China's Liaison Office, the key symbol of Chinese sovereignty, with graffiti.
Cleaners swept up broken glass at the Hong Kong office of China's official Xinhua news agency on Sunday, one of the buildings vandalized as activists hurled petrol bombs and set fire to metro stations.
Xinhua condemned the attack by what it said were "barbaric thugs" who broke doors and security systems and threw fire and paint bombs into the lobby.
"The practice of the black rioters once again shows that 'stopping the violence and restoring order' is Hong Kong's most important and urgent task at present," a spokesperson for Xinhua said in a Facebook post.
Police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon at protesters on Saturday and early Sunday as the violence spilled from Hong Kong island across the harbor to Kowloon. One of the protesters' key demands is an independent probe into perceived police brutality.
There have been several injuries during five months of unrest, including a protester shot in the chest and a policeman slashed in the neck, but no deaths since the protests began in June.
Hong Kong returned to China under a "one country, two systems" formula which guarantees its freedoms for 50 years. China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has a garrison in Hong Kong but troops have remained in barracks since the protests began.
Protesters last month targeted a PLA barracks with lasers prompting troops to hoist a banner warning they could be arrested. Senior PLA officers have said violence will not be tolerated.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG- Hong Kong's legislature on Wednesday formally withdrew planned legislation that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, but the move was unlikely to end months of unrest as it met just 1 of 5 demands of pro-democracy protesters.
The rallying cry of the protesters, who have trashed public buildings in the Chinese-ruled city, set street fires and thrown petrol bombs at police, has been "5 demands, not 1 less," meaning the withdrawal of the bill make no difference.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam had said many times the bill was as good as dead and said that other demands, including universal suffrage and an amnesty for all those charged with rioting, were beyond her control.
Protesters are also calling for her to stand down and for an independent inquiry into perceived police brutality during a long hot summer of running battles on the streets.
"There aren't any big differences between suspension and withdrawal (of the extradition bill)... It's too little, too late," said 27-year-old protester Connie, hours before the bill was withdrawn.
"There are still other demands the government needs to meet, especially the problem of police brutality."
Police have responded to the violence with water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets, and several live rounds.
Protesters are angry at what they see as Beijing encroaching on the former British colony's "1 country, 2 systems" formula enshrined during the handover in 1997, which permits the city wide-ranging freedoms not available on the mainland such as an independent judiciary.
The extradition bill would have allowed defendants charged with serious crimes to be sent for trial abroad, including to Communist Party-controlled courts in China.
The bill was seen as the latest move by Beijing to erode those freedoms. China has denied these claims and accuses foreign countries of fomenting trouble.
A murder suspect whose case Lam had originally held up as showing the need for the extradition bill walked free on Wednesday as the city's government squabbled with Taiwan over how to handle his potential voluntary surrender to authorities.
Chan Tong-kai, a Hong Kong citizen, was accused of murdering his girlfriend in Taiwan last year before fleeing back to the financial hub. Chan was arrested by Hong Kong police in March 2018 and authorities there were only able to find evidence against him for money laundering, for which he was sentenced to 29 months in prison.
Chan has offered to voluntarily surrender himself to Taiwan, but both Hong Kong and Taiwan have clashed over the next steps.
"There's no such thing as surrender," Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen told reporters. "There's only arrest... We will continue to ask for legal assistance from the Hong Kong government, including providing related evidence and to ask the Hong Kong government not to evade the matter."
Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee said Taiwan, which China claims as its own, was obstructing the case.
SPECULATION ABOUT LAM "WRONG"
China, which views Taiwan as a renegade province, has offered the "1 country, 2 systems" formula for it to unite with the mainland.
Fiercely democratic Taiwan has rejected the offer with Tsai saying this month such an arrangement had set Hong Kong "on the edge of disorder."
China, which has many times expressed confidence in Lam and her government to end the unrest, was drawing up a plan to replace her with an "interim" chief executive, the Financial Times reported, citing people briefed on the deliberations.
Lam has become a lightning rod for protests and another of the protesters' demands has been for her to stand down.
The leading candidates to succeed Lam include Norman Chan, the former head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and Henry Tang, who has also served as the territory's financial secretary and chief secretary for administration, the report said.
A spokesman said Tang did not comment on speculation and that he supported Lam as chief executive.
A senior official in Beijing said the FT story was wrong and none of the suggested candidates listed in the story could possibly take over from Lam based on the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution which came into force in 1997.
The law says that if the chief executive is unable to discharge his or her duties, such duties will be temporarily assumed by the Administrative Secretary, Financial Secretary or Secretary of Justice in that order, the official said. A new chief executive would be selected within 6 months, the law says.
But Beijing had prepared all kinds of contingency plans for different scenarios in Hong Kong, including Lam’s administration losing total control of the situation, the official said.
Over recent months, Beijing has set up a special team working from Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong, to gather information and it acted as the major communication channel between Hong Kong and Beijing, according to 2 people familiar with the situation.
Lam’s office was authorized to talk to the team directly without going through Beijing’s Liaison Office, one of the people said.
The Liaison Office, the symbol of Chinese rule, was attacked and daubed with anti-China graffiti in July.
In September, in response to a Reuters report about a recording of Lam saying she would step down if she could, she said she had never asked the Chinese government to let her resign.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
