\nbefore the handover who now runs a risk consultancy, said the public order
\nsituation would likely \u201cworsen\u201d in the coming weeks.
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/deshmediabd.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/3-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hong Kong descended into chaos Sunday
\nnight as riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at anti-government
\nprotesters hours after China\u2019s office in the city was daubed with eggs and
\ngraffiti in a vivid rebuke to Beijing\u2019s rule.<\/p>\n
Acrid clouds of tear gas wafted through the city\u2019s densely packed
\ncommercial district as police battled masked protesters after another huge
\nprotest march, with seemingly no end in sight to the turmoil engulfing the
\nfinance hub.<\/p>\n
A group of masked, stick-wielding government supporters also descended on
\na group of protesters in a train station, beating multiple people including
\nreporters who live-streamed the assaults.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong has been plunged into its worst crisis in recent history by
\nweeks of marches and sporadic violent confrontations between police and
\npockets of hardcore protesters.<\/p>\n
The initial protests were lit by a now-suspended bill that would have
\nallowed extraditions to mainland China.<\/p>\n
But they have since evolved into a wider movement calling for democratic
\nreforms, universal suffrage and a halt to sliding freedoms in the semi-
\nautonomous territory.<\/p>\n
Tear gas and rubber bullets have become frequent while the city\u2019s
\nparliament was trashed by protesters earlier this month \u2014 as Beijing\u2019s
\nauthority faces its most serious challenge since Hong Kong was handed back to
\nChina in 1997.<\/p>\n
On Sunday tens of thousands of anti-government protesters marched through
\nthe streets, the seventh weekend in-a-row that residents have come out en-
\nmasse.<\/p>\n
But the march followed a now familiar pattern: a huge peaceful turnout
\nfollowed by a night of running clashes with more hardcore groups.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Pro-Beijing vigilantes \u2013<\/p>\n
The attacks by masked men on protesters was a new escalation and will
\nratchet up fears that the city\u2019s feared triad gangs are wading into the
\npolitical conflict.<\/p>\n
Sunday evening\u2019s coordinated assault took place in Yuen Long, a district
\nin the city\u2019s New Territories near the Chinese border where the criminal
\ngangs remain influential.<\/p>\n
Footage showed the men attacking protesters on the platform and inside
\ntrains.<\/p>\n
Similar assaults by pro-government vigilantes took place against
\ndemonstrators during the 2014 \u201cUmbrella Movement\u201d protests.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the evening protesters had descended on the Liason Office \u2014
\nthe department that represents China\u2019s central government \u2014 which was pelted
\nwith eggs and daubed with graffiti. \u201cWe are here to declare that Beijing is
\nthe one violating our governing values and judicial procedures,\u201d a 19-year-
\nold protester who gave his first name as Tony, told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou taught us peaceful marches are useless,\u201d was one of the slogans
\nsprayed on the Liason Office walls.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong\u2019s government condemned both the protesters and the men who
\nattacked people in their name.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is absolutely unacceptable to Hong Kong as a society that observes
\nthe rule of law,\u201d the government said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Few concessions \u2013<\/p>\n
Six weeks of huge protests have done little to persuade the city\u2019s
\nunelected leaders \u2014 or Beijing \u2014 to change tack on the hub\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
Under the 1997 handover deal with Britain, China promised to allow Hong
\nKong to keep key liberties such as its independent judiciary and freedom of
\nspeech.<\/p>\n
But many say those provisions are already being curtailed, citing the
\ndisappearance into mainland custody of dissident booksellers, the
\ndisqualification of prominent politicians and the jailing of pro-democracy
\nprotest leaders.<\/p>\n
Authorities have also resisted calls for the city\u2019s leader to be directly
\nelected by the people.<\/p>\n
Protesters have vowed to keep their movement going until their core
\ndemands are met, such as the resignation of city leader Carrie Lam, an
\nindependent inquiry into police tactics, amnesty and a permanent withdrawal
\nof the bill.<\/p>\n
They have also begun calling once more for universal suffrage.<\/p>\n
There is little sign that either Lam or Beijing is willing to budge.<\/p>\n
Beyond agreeing to suspend the extradition bill there have been few other
\nconcessions and fears are rising that Beijing\u2019s patience is running out.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Polarisation deepening\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
In the afternoon a huge crowd marched through the streets calling on the
\ncity\u2019s pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam to heed their demands. Organisers said
\nsome 430,000 people turned out.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop turning a deaf ear to the Hong Kong people\u2019s demands,\u201d Bonnie Leung,
\nfrom the Civil Human Rights Front, told reporters after the march.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarrie Lam really needs to respond and I hope we will see that soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the establishment mustered its own supporters in their tens
\nof thousands for a rally, a gathering that was covered in detail by Chinese
\nstate media and pro-Beijing newspapers in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Few see a political solution to the crisis on the horizon.<\/p>\n
Steve Vickers, a former head of the police\u2019s Criminal Investigation Bureau
\nbefore the handover who now runs a risk consultancy, said the public order
\nsituation would likely \u201cworsen\u201d in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hong Kong descended into chaos Sunday night as riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at anti-government protesters hours after China\u2019s office in the city was daubed with eggs and graffiti in a vivid rebuke to Beijing\u2019s rule. Acrid clouds of tear gas wafted through the city\u2019s densely packed commercial district as police battled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4","category-14"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6713,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6711\/revisions\/6713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}