HONG KONG, Jan 2: Hong Kong entered the new year with a massive anti-government protest march that ended in chaos, as demonstrators blocked roads, smashed traffic lights, threw petrol bombs, vandalised bank branches, trashed shops and targeted the High Court, while police fired tear gas and water cannons, and arrested hundreds, reported South China Morning Post.
The march to the Central business district, approved by police, began around 1500 hrs, with thousand of protesters thronging the streets.
Protest organiser the Civil Human Rights Front claimed that the turnout had surpassed the 1.03 million estimate for the first major rally against the extradition bill in June. Police put the figure at 47,000 during the march while another 13,000 were still at the starting point.
‘It was a show of solidarity to push for the protesters’ core demands, including an independent investigation into police conduct over nearly seven months of social unrest, amnesty for all those arrested, and universal suffrage,’ the Hong Kong newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, the leader of China’s Special Administrative Region–Carrie Lam has rejected all their demands, except for withdrawing her despised extradition bill which first sparked the protests nearly seven months ago.
(UNI)
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