Team News Riveting
Activists in Hong Kong had urged the public to join the mammoth protest on Sunday (September 6) to oppose the national security law, the potential launch of a new health code system and the recent postponement of democratic polls.
The organizers had set a target to pull a crowd of 50,000 on Sunday to oppose the new national security law and delayed elections. Sunday is the same day that Legislative Council elections were originally scheduled to be held.
The protest has been promoted on social media posters including Facebook and Telegram over the past week. It said black-clad protesters would march along Nathan Road from Jordan to Mong Kok from 2.30pm on the day.
Organizers, who have remained anonymous, said in a Telegram group they hoped 50,000 people would take part in Kowloon, but acknowledged that they might cancel the march if there were safety concerns.
That seems likely, however. Police said on Facebook they were aware of the proposed event, which has not been granted official approval. They said anyone who organized or incited people to join an illegal assembly would violate the Public Order Ordinance and face up to five years in jail.
They said demonstrators might also violate the Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) Regulation if they gathered in public.
Currently, gatherings of more than two people are banned on the streets for anti-epidemic reasons. Police have stepped up efforts to curb protests which have been fewer and farther between since the new national security law was implemented in Hong Kong on June 30.
Still, there have been sporadic demonstrations. On August 30, more than a hundred people gathered in the MOKO and Langham Place shopping malls in Mongkok and chanted slogans including “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times.” Police fined 29 people HK$2,000 (US$258) each for violating social distancing rules at the protest.
On August 31, hundreds of people gathered outside of the Prince Edward MTR station to mark the “August 31 incident” of 2019, at which many mass transit passengers were injured in a police operation at the station.
