Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters plan to rebuild "Lennon Walls" of anti-government graffiti as they mark the fifth anniversary of the "Umbrella" street movement that
A series of pro- and anti-Beijing protests is planned ahead of the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China on Tuesday, including at the consulate of former colonial power Britain.
Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters plan to rebuild "Lennon Walls" of anti-government graffiti as they mark the fifth anniversary of the "Umbrella" protests. Source: AAP
Anti-government protesters have attacked the legislature, Beijing's main Liaison Office, occupied the airport, thrown petrol bombs at police, vandalised metro stations and set street fires in more than three months of unrest.
Police have responded with tear gas, water cannon, rubber bullets and occasional live rounds fired into the air.
"They are not our children," China supporter Yau Mei-kwang said of the frontline activists. "Because at this age, they should be studying, not running to the airport, hitting people, hitting the police, insulting people. That is not right."
A man looks at the newly created Lennon Wall, made with a mosaic of post-its, posters and notes outside the Central Government Complex. Source: AP
A pro-democracy protester who only gave his name as Wong defended the use of violence.
"We know that they will not listen if we rally in peace because we are not on the same level," he said.
The anti-government protesters are angry about what they see as creeping Chinese interference in Hong Kong, which returned to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula intended to guarantee freedoms that are not enjoyed on the mainland.
China vehemently denies meddling. It has accused foreign governments, including the United States and Britain, of fanning the unrest.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Source: AAP
Protesters appealed to the British two weeks ago to rein in China and ensure it respects the city's freedoms.
Britain says it has a legal responsibility to ensure China abides by the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which lays out the "one country, two systems" arrangement.
At the same time, it is pinning its hopes on closer trade and investment cooperation with China, which since 1997 has risen to become the world's second-largest economy, after it leaves the European Union at the end of October.
The protests were sparked in June by planned legislation, since withdrawn, that would have allowed the extradition of suspected criminals to mainland China. But they have since expanded into a broader pro-democracy movement.
Saturday is the fifth anniversary of the start of the "Umbrella" protests, student-led demonstrations that gridlocked the city for 79 days in 2014 calling for universal suffrage that failed to wrest concessions from Beijing. Thousands of people are expected to rally in the city centre in the evening.
One of the leaders of those protests, the bespectacled Joshua Wong, 22, said on Saturday he will run for local district council elections in November.
"I will join the protest assembly tonight, during this weekend and also during 1st October," he told reporters. "It's time to let Emperor Xi (Chinese President Xi Jinping) be aware that now is our battle... We stand in solidarity, we stand as one."
Wong is on bail after being charged with inciting and participating in an unauthorised assembly outside police headquarters on June 21.
