Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Monday 29 July 2019
Police fire tear gas, rubber bullets at Hong Kong protesters

Associated Press Police had denied Lau's re-
HONG KONG (AP) — Police quest to march west to the
in Hong Kong fired tear gas Sheung Wan district, where
and rubber bullets repeat- the tear gas was used the
edly Sunday to drive back previous weekend, cit-
protesters blocking streets ing escalating violence in
with road signs and um- clashes with protesters that
brellas in another night of have broken out after past
pitched battles in the semi- marches and rallies.
autonomous Chinese terri- "The police must prevent
tory. aggressive protesters from
It was the second night in a exploiting a peaceful pro-
row that tear gas was used cession to cause troubles
in escalating pro-democ- and violent clashes," said
racy protests. The demon- Superintendent Louis Lau of
strations began early last the police public relations
month to voice opposition branch.
to an extradition bill that On Saturday, police fired
has since been suspend- tear gas and rubber bul-
ed, but the movement lets as demonstrators threw
has grown to encompass bricks and other objects
a broader push for full de- Hong Kong police fire tear gas at protesters in Sai Wan, Hong Kong on Sunday, July 28, 2019. and ducked behind make-
mocracy. Associated Press shift shields at a march in
Protesters occupied two an outlying district toward
areas at opposite ends Hong Kong media report- Chater Garden park. said rally organizer Ventus the border with mainland
of central Hong Kong on ed. Chanting "Add oil," a Lau. China.q
Sunday following a mid- Hong Kong has been phrase that roughly means
afternoon rally against po- wracked by protests for "Keep up the fight," a huge
lice use of tear gas at a seven weeks. Initially, the crowd marched east down
demonstration the previous protesters were demand- a wide thoroughfare.
weekend. ing the scrapping of a They stopped near the
On the western end of proposed extradition law Sogo department store
Hong Kong Island, one that would send suspects and set up barricades to
group blocked areas near to mainland China to face block off the area and de-
the Chinese government's trials. The legislation is seen fend it against police.
liaison office and began as a threat to Hong Kong's Another group headed
to move forward as night freedoms that were guar- west toward mainland Chi-
fell. Police issued warnings, anteed for 50 years when na's liaison office. Protest-
and protesters threw eggs China took back control of ers egged the office last
at them. Officers fired tear the former British colony in weekend and splattered
gas to halt the advance. 1997. black ink on the national
Police then embarked on The bill was eventually sus- emblem, eliciting an angry
an hourslong effort to push pended, but the protesters reaction from the Chinese
the protesters eastward then called for the resig- government.
and get them to disperse. nation of the city's leader Some stopped about two
In repeated standoffs, and an investigation into blocks short of the office
spontaneous but highly or- whether police have used and used orange and
ganized protesters set up excessive force in quelling white construction barri-
behind scaffolding that the protests. cades to build a wall span-
they built across a street. Underlying the movement ning a major road. They
Police lined up behind is a push for full democracy massed behind the barriers
clear shields about 30 me- in the city, whose leader as night fell, with umbrellas
ters (100 feet) down the is chosen by a committee pointed forward to shield
road. Dozens of journalists dominated by a pro-Beijing their identities and ward off
in bright yellow vests stood establishment, rather than any police move to clear
in between the two on the by direct elections. them.
sidelines. Earlier Sunday, protesters Some nearby stores shut-
The police would advance rallied at a park in Hong tered early as police in
gradually, firing bursts of Kong's financial district be- riot gear gathered nearby
tear gas. Protesters in hard fore marching out in sev- ahead of the all but inevi-
hats scurried about, rear- eral directions despite not table clearing operation.
ranging makeshift barriers winning police approval for The rally in Chater Garden
of pilfered road signs and a public procession. It was was called to protest the
other items. By the time the the second straight day police use of tear gas, rub-
police reached the scaf- that protesters took to the ber bullets and other force
folding, they had backed streets without official per- to break up a protest the
off about 6 meters (20 feet). mission. previous Sunday.
Another team of officers, A sea of black-shirted pro- "We need to have a protest
more mobile with smaller testers, some with bright to show that we are strong-
shields, then swept in to yellow helmets and masks ly against this kind of brutal-
clear the area. Some pro- but many with just back- ity and we need them to
testers were detained, packs, streamed out of respond to our demands,"