Police used pepper spray to disperse crowds of Hong Kongers demonstrating against Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) yesterday, ahead of the 15th anniversary of the territory’s handover amid tight security.
On the second day of his visit to the city, hundreds of protesters demanding an investigation into the death of a leading Chinese dissident rallied near Hu’s hotel, which was surrounded by giant barricades.
Hundreds of demonstrators, who tried to breach the giant blue and white barriers, were targeted with pepper spray as protesters chanted anti-Beijing slogans and unfurled a huge banner bearing the Chinese character “injustice.”
Photo: AFP
Hu’s visit comes as discontent toward Beijing surges to a new high, and his visit has drawn sneers and ridicule from Hong Kongers.
Some reporters, including three AFP journalists, at the scene were also hit by pepper spray, while another reporter was manhandled.
One local reporter was briefly held yesterday after asking Hu about the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Photo: CNA
There was palpable anger against the death of Chinese dissident Li Wangyang (李旺陽), who was jailed for more than 22 years over the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests. He was found dead in his hospital ward in China early last month, where his family said he died under suspicious circumstances.
There is an unusually tight security cordon around Hu’s five-star hotel and a convention hall where key celebrations, including the inauguration of the city’s new leader, will be held.
Police manned every intersection and building entrance nearby, part of an enhanced security presence visible around the city.
The barricades are more than 2m high — a size last used during protests against the WTO in Hong Kong in 2005 — and are likely to defy Hu’s wish to “walk more” and “see more” in the city.
Metal fences set up to keep potential demonstrators in a so-called “petition zone” and “protest zone” are so far away that Hu and his delegation are unlikely to see or hear any protests.
“Are we celebrating the handover anniversary or staging a war?” a Facebook user wrote.
Other users said the Asian financial hub, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, had been turned into a “city of barricades.”
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS