Yes, some of the demonstrations have seen over 2,000,000 on the streets. Today, the police have tried to restrict them to a park that can hold about 100,000. Anyone outside of that area can be arrested and imprisoned for up to five years. All in the name of encouraging peaceful legal demonstrations.Dallow Spicer wrote: ↑Sun Aug 18, 2019 5:43 pmNo they haven’t. The fact the protests are going on does not negate the fact that annoyance of it prevails.
Your logic is silly. There are 7.5 million HKers. 100,000 may be protesting; it’s a stretch to assume the remaining 7.4 million either support or oppose the protests.
Most HKers want to maintain their HK identity and lifestyle. That doesn’t mean they support these protests. The HKers I know believe such protests are likely to make things worse, not better.
Just like using government infiltrators to wrestle protesters to the ground and beating them with batons, firing tear gas into enclosed public spaces, shooting them with rubber bullets and bean bags at point black range and threatening them with the full might of Chinese military forces encourages them to peaceful protest.
Last week, protesters withdrew money en masse from cashpoints in the hope of destabilising the banking system. Medical workers rallied at hospitals and more than 300 civil servants issued a second letter condemning their government. Secondary school pupils have pledged to boycott classes a day a week when school resumes next month.Police turned down a plan for Sunday’s march – from Victoria Park to the central business district – submitted by the Civil Human Rights Front group, which has organised past demonstrations that drew millions. Police did, however, give permission for a rally at the park instead.
Huge crowds filled the park on Sunday afternoon and spilled on to nearby streets, forcing police to block traffic in the area. Torrential rain came down an hour into the rally, turning the park into a sea of colourful umbrellas. Many began walking on the streets despite the police ban on a march as the park got overcrowded. They risk being charged with unlawful assembly, which can lead to a maximum of five years in prison.
“Now citizens are just trying to bring out as much creativity as we can,” said Elizabeth Yu, 26, a musician and teacher who was at Friday’s rally. “Sometimes I feel like it makes us lose focus but at the same time this shows the diversity of citizens who are trying to speak out.”
Others are focusing on lobbying other countries to help break the stalemate. Demonstrators have organised rallies in Taiwan, Japan, the UK, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, France, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the US to coincide with this weekend’s protests.
Confucius say: when you have problem, for solution look to cause.
The original headline I posted this morning: Hong Kong: tens of thousands join protest in pouring rain, has now changed to read Hong Kong: hundreds of thousands join protest in pouring rain
Bill Bailey, the comedian, got caught up in the airport when the police attacked the peaceful demonstrators. You should read his account. I think it was in the Guardian today.