Atmosphere in Central & Admiralty very #PoliceState this morning. Riot cops patrolling every main road & pedestrian bridges in groups. Admiralty MTR exit to govt HQ blocked. While ‘national security’ laws would make #HK much worse, #HKPoliceState is already here.
The scene along Harcourt Rd, in front of #HK govt HQ. & these are just the cops you can see. #HKPoliceState
On footbridge from Admiralty Centre to #HK govt HQ. There’s practically no access to the footbridge anyway since police have blocked the passage from Admiralty MTR to the footbridge. Govt HQ & surrounding grounds virtually cut off from public access.
Reports from many areas of #HK of police stop&searching young people, these here from cops themselves: L- 6am 15 & 18yo’s arrested in Sham Shui Po w petrol bombs; R- 14 & 15yo’s arrested in Tsuen Wan w protest gear.
Police also report that at 5am transport barriers were dropped onto the tracks at Kwai Hing MTR station.
People now gathering at Hysan Place, Causeway Bay, chanting slogans. Reports of 6 arrests in the area outside the mall.(Photo from 11.02)
Hundreds of protesters now exiting Hysan Place onto the street & walking straight past police stop&searching young people.
Many stop&searches outside Hysan Place but still hundreds of protesters are gathered in the area. Hysan Place has now closed one of its main entrances.
Today’s the 1st day back at school after coronavirus for #HK secondary students. Students at Church of Christ in China Kei Long College in Yuen Long handed out pamphlets against the anthem & ‘national security’ laws to returning students.
Thousands now exiting Hysan Place. Riot police on stand-by but so far taking no action.
Police have now raised the yellow flag and are kettling large number of protesters on Hennessy at Percival St in a cordon. Many managed to escape before police closed it. Some entered a jewellery shop. Now many more police arriving.
I count 69 people in the police cordon on Hennessy. That leaves thousands of others scattering in different directions.
On Percival St, around the corner, police have detained about two dozen others up against shop fronts. Some are being arrested & brought into police vans. This is really heavy #PoliceState behavior.
Police have blocked all westbound lanes of Hennessy Rd in order to conduct the stop&search of 69 & prevent other protesters from moving in the direction of Legco, still a long way west from here. (Sorry: they just reopened one lane.)
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
I am beginning to think the #HK freedom struggle should take the 'opportunity' of the cancellation of Legco elections & the multi-front crackdown to develop our democratic capabilities. This can take many forms but I particularly have in mind the setting up of a shadow parliament
The shadow parliament, unlike the #HK govt or Legco, would be fully democratically elected. Its basis could be the recent pro-democracy primary + perhaps District Councils. It would be elected by people in the HK freedom struggle & represent them.
It would debate and vote on policies, including how to proceed w the freedom struggle in the face of increasingly authoritarian rule. It would be a model of democracy in #HK, something that has never existed here in any form, neither under UK or Chinese colonialism.
Have just swiftly read the 'national security law' which came into effect at 11pm on June 30 at the moment it was published. As of yet, there's no English translation. My 1st observation is, no big surprises: most of the contents were previously divulged. gld.gov.hk/egazette/pdf/2…
There's nothing in the law that provides for its retroactive application or for transport of suspects/defendants from #HK to China. Nor is there anything in it about the Chief Executive choosing judges for natsec trials or the setting up of separate natsec courts.
But much of the law is vaguely worded & open to interpretation, & the law clearly states only the NPCSC has the power of 'interpretation', which means in effect that to a large extent, the law means whatever the #CCP, a clearly interested party in the matter, says what it means.
One year on from the death of Marco Leung Ling-kit at this exact spot, this is how #HK looks: nothing but a sea of green. #HKPoliceState
In spite of the repression, still quite a few brave citizens are gathered at Pacific Place, Admiralty, to remember Marco Leung's fall on June 15 last year. It was for many a moment of reckoning, of realizing how serious the #HK freedom struggle had become & the sacrifice required
Across #HK people are marking the 1st anniversary of the death of Marco Leung Ling-kit today, the 1st associated with the struggle against the extradition bill. Pro-democracy leaders on trial for unlawful assembly held 3min of silence before entering court
Lots of people gathering now around Sogo in Causeway Bay for #June12 anniversary. Poster of that day’s events are displayed. Lots of police too, both riot & undercover. Remember:all protests are still banned &police have announced thousands of cops are out tonight to prevent them
20.08 In Mong Kok, a large number of citizens have been indiscriminately kettled, presumably for stop&search. This is a frequently employed rights-abusing technique of the police. Very large police presence near Langham Place.
People also gathering in New Town Plaza mall in Sha Tin.
The media's been full of images of police brutality in the US- George Floyd's murder & the treatment meted out to protesters. Some observers have been struck by their similarity to images from #HK over the past year, but the similarity's superficial... nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/…
Compare the responses of US & #HK authorities & businesses: In Minnesota, where George Floyd was murdered by the police, the officers have been arrested, the governor & Dept of Human Rights have undertaken a civil rights investigation of Minneapolis police going back 10yrs....
& yesterday the Minneapolis City Council passed initial police reforms. Authorities in other states & cities are also enacting police reforms, & ideas of actually abolishing police forces as they now exist & repurposing policing have entered the mainstream nytimes.com/reuters/2020/0…
A funny story from yesterday: A horde of police were trying to catch 2 youths they suspected of having thrown debris in the road. 1 cop dropped his baton. An old man picked it up, dropped it down a manhole cover, & sauntered away. When police came back for it, it was gone.
All of #HK's resisting tyranny, each as they can. This is an occupied city. It's not a free, or 'semi-free' city, any more than France was semi-free under Nazi occupation. #HK is occupied. Unless you apply this lens to the situation, it's hard to understand what's happening here.
Another story: Police are charging protesters on Canal Rd. Many scatter into Bowrington wet market. A protester asks a stall holder if he wants them to help move his wares indoors as police may charge through. The stall holder says, No, better to block them, may they all die.