Hong Kong police arrest hundreds and fire pepper pellets amid fresh unrest
Police in Hong Kong have arrested 240 people and fired
pepper pellets amid fresh anti-mainland protests.
Protesters were rallying against a bill on China's national
anthem and Beijing's planned introduction of a national security law.
Police said the arrests were on suspicion of unauthorised
assembly.
Protesters oppose the anthem bill, which would criminalise
insulting it, and the security law, which they fear will strip Hong Kong of
basic freedoms.
The initial call by demonstrators had been to gather at the
Legislative Council (Legco) building in the Central district. But it had been
surrounded by riot police and blocked off by water-filled barriers and large
protests there failed to materialise.
MPs there have been debating the second reading of the
national anthem bill.
Protesters took to the streets, blocking traffic in both
Central and Causeway Bay. Police said on a Facebook post they had arrested 180
people there.
They later added that another 60 had been arrested in the
Mongkok district for blocking traffic.
Other arrests were made for suspicion of possessing
offensive weapons, including petrol bombs.
Marches and protests have taken place in a number of other
districts.
One protester in Central told the South China Morning Post:
"We want to protect our freedom of speech. It will no longer be Hong Kong,
but will become just another Chinese city."
Another demonstrator told Reuters: "Although you're
afraid inside your heart, you need to speak out."
What is the anthem bill?
If it becomes law, anyone who misuses or insults China's
national anthem, the March of the Volunteers, would face a fine of up to
HK$50,000 (£5,237; $6,449) and up to three years in prison.
If it passes the second reading in Legco on Wednesday, it
could go to a third reading and a vote early next month.
Hong Kong does not have its own anthem and so the Chinese
anthem is sometimes played at events like football matches.
In recent years, the anthem has been booed frequently. A
2022 Fifa World Cup qualifier, for example, saw thousands booing.
What is the security law about?
Beijing has proposed imposing it in Hong Kong.
It would ban treason, secession, sedition and subversion and
China says it is needed to combat violent protests that have grown in the
territory.
The anti-mainland sentiment was fuelled last year by a
proposed - and later scrapped - bill that would have allowed criminal suspects
to be extradited to China.
Critics say the security law is a direct attempt to curtail
the freedoms given Hong Kong in the mini-constitution that was agreed when
sovereignty was handed back to China in 1997.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam has denied that the
law, which is set to go to a vote this week and could be in force as early as
the end of June, will curtail the rights of Hong Kongers.
A group of 200 senior politicians from around the world have
issued a joint statement criticising China's plan.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the US would
announce a "very powerful" response to the proposed legislation
before the end of the week. China's plans had already been condemned by
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who described them as a "death knell"
for the city's freedoms.
The UK, Australia and Canada have also expressed their
"deep concern".
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