HONG KONG, China- Flash-mob rallies broke out in Hong Kong on Wednesday as anger mounted over the police shooting of a teenage protester who attacked officers in a dramatic escalation of the violent unrest that has engulfed the territory for months.
A large crowd of demonstrators, including office workers in shirts and suits, mustered in a park and then began marching through the city's commercial district in an unsanctioned rally, chanting anti-police and anti-government slogans.
Hundreds of students also staged a sit-in at the school of 18-year-old Tsang Chi-kin, who was shot in the chest by a police officer as he and a group of masked protesters attacked officers with umbrellas and poles. He survived the shooting.
The international finance hub has been left reeling from the shooting, the first time a demonstrator has been struck with a live round in nearly four months of increasingly violent pro-democracy protests.
Tuesday witnessed the worst clashes of the summer as China celebrated 70 years of Communist Party rule with a massive military parade in Beijing.
The spiraling violence underscored seething public anger against Beijing's rule and shifted the spotlight from China's carefully choreographed birthday party.
Running battles raged for hours across multiple locations as hardcore protesters hurled rocks and petrol bombs. Police responded for the most part with tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannon.
As criticism rose the police launched a spirited defense of their colleague at a press conference on Wednesday saying he feared for his life and the safety of his colleagues.
"He only had one option, that is to fire the gun to immediately resolve the danger," deputy commissioner Mr. Tang Ping-keung told reporters.
But protest groups said the officer charged into the melee with his firearm drawn and failed to fire a warning shot as they condemned the increasing use of live rounds.
"The people of Hong Kong are sick and tired of having mere words of condemnation as their only shields against lethal bullets and rifles," a masked protester said at a press conference near Tsang's school.
RECORD ARRESTS AND TEAR GAS
The shooting was captured on video that quickly went viral.
Opinion towards the shooting has largely cemented along ideological divides with pro-democracy activists condemning the police and establishment figures calling it a justified use of force.
Tsang, who was filmed trying to strike the officer with a pole as he was shot, was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition but authorities said his condition had since improved.
A friend and classmate of Tsang, who gave his first name Marco, said the 18-year-old is a keen basketballer who was infuriated by sliding freedoms in Hong Kong and the police response to the protests.
"If he sees any problems or anything unjust, he would face it bravely, speak up against it, instead of bearing it silently," Marco told AFP.
Police said 30 officers were injured in the National Day clashes, including some who suffered chemical burns from a corrosive liquid that was thrown at them by protesters. The liquid also wounded some journalists.
Hospital authorities said more than 70 people were admitted on Tuesday.
Outlining the sheer extent of Tuesday's clashes, police revealed that they arrested 269 people, ranging from 12 to 71 years old -- the largest daily toll since protests began.
They also unleashed a record 1,400 rounds of tear gas, 900 rubber bullets, 230 sponge rounds, 190 bean bag rounds and five live rounds as warning shots.
To compare, police fired 1,000 tear gas canisters in the first two months of the protests.
Hong Kong's courts are rapidly filling up.
On Wednesday, 96 protesters arrested on Sunday appeared in court charged with rioting.
Ages ranged from 14 to 39 and while the majority were students in their twenties, other occupations listed included a waitress, a teacher, a doctor, an advertising executive, and a cook.
The protests were ignited by a now-scrapped plan to allow extraditions to the mainland.
But after Beijing and local leaders took a hard line they snowballed into a wider movement calling for democratic freedoms and police accountability.
With Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam seemingly unwilling or unable to find a political solution, police have been left to battle increasingly radicalized protesters.
Sentiment is hardening on all sides.
Protesters and some local residents routinely shout "triads" at officers who often respond by calling demonstrators "cockroaches."
The protest movement's main demands are an independent inquiry into police actions, an amnesty for those arrested and universal suffrage.
But Beijing and Lam have said they are unwilling to meet those demands.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SAN FRANCISCO - YouTube on Thursday said it disabled 210 channels that appeared to be part of a coordinated influence campaign against pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
The action by the Google-owned service came this week as Twitter and Facebook accused the Chinese government of backing a social media campaign to discredit Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and sow political discord in the city.
"We disabled 210 channels on YouTube when we discovered channels in this network behaved in a coordinated manner while uploading videos related to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong," Shane Huntley of Google's security threat analysis group said in an online post.
"This discovery was consistent with recent observations and actions related to China announced by Facebook and Twitter."
Twitter and Facebook announced Monday they had suspended nearly 1,000 active accounts linked to a coordinated influence campaign, while Twitter said it had shut down about 200,000 more before they could inflict any damage.
"These accounts were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground," Twitter said, referring to the active accounts it shut down.
Facebook said some of the posts from accounts it banned compared the protesters in Hong Kong with Islamic State group militants, branded them "cockroaches" and alleged they planned to kill people using slingshots.
Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous southern Chinese city and one of the world's most important financial hubs, is in the grip of an unprecedented political crisis that has seen millions of people take to the streets demanding greater freedoms.
China's communist rulers have warned they may be prepared to deploy force to quell the nearly three months of unrest, and likened violent protesters to "terrorists".
However, they have publicly largely left the city's leaders and police force to try and resolve the crisis.
Behind the scenes online though, the Chinese government is seeking to sway public opinion about Hong Kong, according to Twitter and Facebook.
"We are disclosing a significant state-backed information operation focused on the situation in Hong Kong, specifically the protest movement and their calls for political change," Twitter said.
It said it had pulled 936 accounts originating in China that were spreading disinformation.
"Based on our intensive investigations, we have reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation," Twitter said.
Twitter and Facebook are banned in China, part of the government's so-called "Great Firewall" of censorship.
Because of the bans, many of the fake accounts were accessed using "virtual private networks" that give a deceptive picture of the user's location, Twitter said.
"However, some accounts accessed Twitter from specific unblocked IP addresses originating in mainland China," it said.
Facebook said it had acted on a tip from Twitter, removing seven pages, three groups and five Facebook accounts that had about 15,500 followers.
"Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found links to individuals associated with the Chinese government," Facebook said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG, China—Renewed clashes broke out between pro-democracy protesters and police in Hong Kong on Tuesday night after dozens of demonstrators were charged with rioting—an offense that carries a jail term of up to 10 years.
The city is reeling from 7 weeks of mass protest rallies—some of which have ended in violence—triggered by a controversial bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.
They have evolved into calls for wider democratic reforms and a halt to sliding freedoms in the most significant challenge to Beijing's rule since the city's 1997 handover.
In the latest flashpoint, police used pepper spray and batons on Tuesday night against protesters who had gathered outside a police station in Kwai Chung district, an AFP reporter on scene said.
Hundreds were protesting after police announced 44 people arrested in clashes on Sunday had been charged with rioting.
Protesters responded to the police charge by throwing plastic bottles and umbrellas.
In footage broadcast live on Now TV, an officer could be seen aiming a shotgun at protesters throwing objects at him in a nearby bus station until he and his colleagues beat a hasty retreat.
SURGE IN VIOLENCE
The last 2 weekends have seen a dramatic surge in the level of violence used by both protesters and police who have repeatedly fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse projectile-throwing crowds.
A mob of pro-government thugs also attacked protesters putting 45 people in hospital.
Tuesday night's violence was brief and less pronounced in comparison but tensions remained high with the police charge having little effect in dispersing the crowds.
Before the clashes broke out, the crowds were chanting democracy slogans and spraying graffiti on the building's walls. The police station had metal shutters pulled down over the door and all public-facing windows.
Rioting is one of the most serious public order offenses on Hong Kong's statute books and carries a sentence of up to a decade in jail.
Edward Leung, a prominent activist, was jailed for 6 years last year after he was found guilty of rioting in clashes with police in 2016.
BEIJING WARNING
The move to charge the 44 protesters came a day after Beijing publicly threw its weight behind Hong Kong's unelected leader Carrie Lam and the police, saying violent protesters must be swiftly punished.
"No civilized society or rule of law society will tolerate rampant violence," Yang Guang, spokesman for the cabinet-level Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, told reporters in a highly unusual public press conference.
Yang blamed the violence on a "few radicals" and said it "bumped into the bottom line" of the "one country, two systems" principle that governs the financial hub.
He also accused Western politicians of making "irresponsible remarks" to "mess up Hong Kong" and contain China's development.
Beijing has issued increasingly shrill condemnations of the protests, but has left it to the city's government to deal with the situation.
FEW COMPROMISES
Lam has shown no sign of backing down beyond agreeing to suspend the extradition bill and has made few public appearances.
Police have not released a detailed breakdown of arrests and charges since the protests began but an AFP tally of public statements shows at least 170 people have been arrested since 9 June.
Protesters have vowed to keep their campaign going until their core demands are met.
They include the resignation of Lam, an independent inquiry into police tactics, an amnesty for those arrested, a permanent withdrawal of the bill and the right to elect their leaders.
On Tuesday morning, activists held up trains on the city's subway system during the morning rush hour, leading to lengthy delays and long queues for buses.
It was not the first time they have used those tactics, but the disruption was more widespread than previously.
Under the 1997 handover deal with Britain, China promised to allow Hong Kong to keep key liberties such as its independent judiciary and freedom of speech.
But many say those provisions are already being curtailed, citing the disappearance into mainland custody of dissident booksellers, the disqualification of prominent politicians and the jailing of pro-democracy protest leaders.
Public anger has been compounded by rising inequality, the high costs of living and the perception that the city's distinct language and culture are being threatened by ever closer integration with the Chinese mainland.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
