Hong Kong protest: police fire teargas at demonstrators – as it happened

Protester Grace Chan, 30, who has a two-year-old, said: “I don’t want my kid to grow up in a place where we have no sense of security. Although they say the law is for going after fugitives, it can be so easily used for political purpose.”

It’s about 10pm in Hong Kong, where unauthorised protests against a controversial new extradition agreement with China have dispersed across the city after demonstrators were attacked by police using tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, bean-bag rounds and batons. It seems likely that protests will continue into the night, but here’s a rundown of the day’s events so far:

• Tens of thousands of people gathered in Hong Kong on Wednesday ahead of a debate on the controversial extradition laws that was due to take place in Hong Kong’s legislative council at 11am.
• The protest was in response to proposed legislation that would allow people to be extradited from Hong Kong, which has been deeply unpopular due to fears that China would be able to use the laws to target political enemies.
• The debate was called off and rescheduled “to a later time to be determined” after protesters blocked streets near the legislative council’s chamber.
• Protesters remained on the streets, as protesters said they did not trust the government not to call the debate as soon as the roads were cleared of protesters.
• Earlier in the day police in riot gear, armed with rifles, used water cannons and pepper spray to disperse protesters, who sought to protect themselves using umbrellas, wrapping their skin in clingfilm, and wearing helmets, masks and goggles.
• Demonstrators seemed to be preparing for a long protest, with first-aid tents and supply stations set up around the city.
• When it became clear that protesters intended to stay, at about 3pm local time, police opened fire with tear gas, baton rounds (rubber bullets) and pepper spray, citing an attempt to rush cordons around the legislative council building as the trigger.
• Justifying the violent response, Hong Kong’s police chief claimed that the protests around Admiralty had become a “riot situation” and confirmed that his officers had used rubber bullets. Several protesters were hit in the face by rubber bullets.
• Thousands of people leaving the scene of the demonstrations were stopped and searched by police. Others retreated tried to escape clouds of teargas by entering shopping centres.
• By nightfall, the area around the legislative council building had been cleared. But hundreds of protesters remained in the Central district, where they have built barricades and expect the arrival of riot police tonight.
• If you are in London and you want to show your solidarity with protesters in Hong Kong then an urgent protest is planned outside the Hong Kong economic and trade office in Bloomsbury at 4pm. More details on this Facebook event page.
  

Our reporter in Hong Kong reports that some protesters are making their way to the city’s Central district, a business hub that was the scene of mass Occupy-style protests in 2014.

It’s nightfall in Hong Kong now, and protesters are still in the streets despite concerted attacks from the police clearing them from the area outside the city’s legislative council building.

Around two to three hundred people are still hanging around the main street in Admiralty but others are now moving towards Central, reports Yu. The Admiralty tube station has already shut so people have to walk to Central if they want to go home.

She says it doesn’t look like police will take more action, but around three to four hundred officers in riot gear remain standing guard in the area around Admiralty.

The tweet below shows a view of the Central district, where protesters have made their way this evening.

Things seemed to have quietened down in Hong Kong for now, after police violently dispersed protesters from the area around central. Our reporter was close enough to choke on the teargas and feel the sting in her eyes and on her skin. She shot this video from the scene at 5.40pm local time - about three and a half hours ago.

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Like the CS gas grenade pictured in an earlier post, much of the tear gas and crowd control ammunition used against protesters in Hong Kong today is likely to have been made in UK, or at least by companies headquartered here.

The Campaign Against the Arms Trade points out that the UK government has granted a number of licences to Hong Kong allowing the export of a wide range of crowd-control equipment, including tear gas, anti-riot guns, anti-riot shields, body armour, and crowd control ammunition.

The most recent licence was granted in December 2018 (the latest month for which data is available), but exports also take place under an Open Licence granted in 2015, allowing an unlimited quantity to be exported for 5 years.

According to a CAAT spokesperson:

UK teargas was also used against democracy protesters in Hong Kong in 2014. In 2014 police used considerable amounts of teargas to try to disperse protests calling for a free election for the Chief Executive of the territory. Images from the ground showed that at least some of the gas used was provided by UK arms company Chemring, which subsequently confirmed that it was a long term provider of tear gas to Hong Kong.

Prior to the 2014 protests, the UK government had granted six licences for the export of tear gas to Hong Kong between the start of 2010 and January 2014 worth £180,000, as well as an Open Licence which allowed unlimited quantities to be exported.

The grenades of the kind pictured earlier are manufactured by Chemring Countermeasures Ltd (formerly known as Pains Wessex), part of the Chemring Group, according to Omega Research. Each grenade deploys small CS payloads which cannot be thrown back at the police.

Police have succeeded in clearing all protesters from around the legislative council building, reports a Guardian journalist. Nevertheless, police continue to raise their black flag and threaten tear gas attacks in an apparent attempt to push demonstrators further out of central Hong Kong.

Pictures taken by Yu show lines of police blocking roads and other access points to the area surrounding the legislative council building. A policeman has told her that the dual carriageway outside the building has been cleared.

Theresa May, the prime minister, has said that it is vital that any new extradition treaty between Hong Kong and China doesn’t violate rights guaranteed for the city’s people after the British withdrawal. Responding during prime ministers questions this afternoon, May said:

This is an important issue. We are concerned about the potential effects of these proposals, particularly obviously given the large number of British citizens there are in Hong Kong.

It is vital that those extradition arrangements in Hong Kong are in line with the rights and freedoms that were set down in the Sino-British joint declaration. We have been unequivocal in our views, we have been quite clear from the outset ... engaging with the Hong Kong government, with the members of the Hong Kong legislative council and the executive council at all levels about our view on this issue.

As I say, it’s vital that those extradition arrangements are in line with the rights and freedoms that we set down in that Sino-British joint [declaration].

Shortly after May’s comments in the commons, Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, tweeted to a similar effect. Hunt has published a statement through the Foreign Office on the British government’s reaction to the protests. He said:

The ongoing protests in Hong Kong are a clear sign of significant public concern about the proposed changes to extradition laws. I call on all sides to remain calm and peaceful.

I urge the Hong Kong government to listen to the concerns of its people and its friends in the international community and to pause and reflect on these controversial measures. It is essential that the authorities engage in meaningful dialogue and take steps to preserve Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms and high degree of autonomy, which underpin its international reputation. Upholding the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems’, provided for in the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration, is vital to Hong Kong’s future success.

Police in Hong Kong are apparently using hand thrown CS gas grenades made by a British company and approved for sale by the UK government.

Omega Research, which tracks and researches the weapons and equipment used in torture and human rights violations, identified a grenade pictured in a tweet from the Hong Kong protests as a hand thrown N225 Rubber Bursting CS grenade, made by the UK-based Chemring Group.

Omega Research said the picture had been sourced from this tweet sent from Hong Kong earlier today:

I was unable to find any information about this munition on the Chemring website, which seems only to advertise smoke bombs, flares and other non-violent items.

However, it appears that these grenades have been used against Hong Kong protesters before. Similar looking devices were found during the 2014 pro-democracy protests in the city, the Times reported at the time.

Protesters have been quite inventive in their methods for trying to ameliorate the effects of the teargas, CS, pepper spray and other irritant weapons fired at them, including wrapping their skin in clingfilm, wetting facemasks, and washing their faces with milk, as well as shielding themselves with the now emblematic umbrellas.

The video tweeted below shows another way they have protected themselves against gas munitions - extinguishing them with bottles of water as they land.

Twenty-two people had been taken to hospital with injuries related to today’s protests as of 6pm local time, according to the South China Morning Post.

The paper reports that the Hong Kong hospital authority is asking the public to avoid using accident and emergency services unless absolutely necessary.

Hong Kong’s population have developed a sudden - but perhaps understandable - interest in encrypted communications, according to this tweet.

Protesters are seeking shelter inside nearby shopping centres to escape police teargas and baton round attacks, a Guardian journalist reports.

Police in riot gear have used volley after volley of tear gas, as well as rubber bullets, beanbag rounds and pepper spray, to try to clear the area around Admiralty and Hong Kong’s government buildings.

Police are firing tear gas now on main Street outside Pacific place shopping centre, Yu reports. Many people cleared from the area outside the legislative committee building have regrouped there.

Wong Shan, 80, said: “The government just wants to scare the young people (by shooting tear gas). The government really shouldn’t do this to peaceful protesters. Some police were even holding rifles. Unlike the 1967 riot, nobody is wrecking shops. They are just voicing their opinions. The law is a very wrong thing.”

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The council meeting to decide on the new extradition bill with China will not be held today, according to a Hong Kong government press release. The release, issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat at 6.40pm local time (11.40BST), says:

Under Rule 14 (3) of the Rules of Procedure, the President of the Legislative Council has decided that the Council meeting of June 12 will not be held today. Announcement will be made once the President determines the time of the meeting.

Earlier, the Hong Kong government reiterated police claims that a riot had broken out in the Admiralty area and instructed people to stay away. That release, issued at 6.05pm (11.05BST), said:

A Government spokesman said today (June 12) that a riot broke out in the Admiralty area, with protesters causing serious obstruction to major trunk roads and great inconvenience.

The spokesman said a number of protesters had used very dangerous weapons and a high level of violence. They have repeatedly charged at police officers, leading to an increasingly chaotic situation. The Government calls on the persons at the location to leave immediately for their own safety. Other members of the public should not go to the Admiralty area. The spokesperson also urged protesters who were blocking the carriageways to release certain traffic lanes immediately to allow the passage of emergency vehicles and let traffic resume as soon as possible.

The spokesman added that Hong Kong people enjoy the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. However, protesters assembling at the scene must comply with the laws of Hong Kong and maintain social order, remain calm and exercise restraint, leave the scene peacefully. The Police will take appropriate actions if there are any illegal acts.