Organisers say 10,000 took to the streets in protest against contentious joint checkpoint plan for city’s cross-border rail link to mainland China
A New Year’s Day pro-democracy march by thousands of demonstrators ended in scuffles and a defiant stand-off with police at the newly reopened “Civic Square” protest site outside Hong Kong’s government headquarters.
Organisers said 10,000 took to the streets on Monday to voice their concerns over what they see as campaign by Beijing to reduce Hong Kong’s autonomy through a series of contentious moves. Police put the rally turnout at a more conservative 6,200.
The protesters made their way from Wan Chai to the government compound in nearby Admiralty, where the otherwise peaceful march became unruly as police officers surrounded demonstrators outside the East Wing Forecourt, popularly known as “Civic Square”.
The square, a magnet for public demonstrations, had been closed since students stormed it and triggered the Occupy protests of 2014, but it was reopened to the public last Thursday with restricted access.
“Protect Hong Kong,” the protesters chanted as they stopped on Tim Mei Avenue outside the square on Monday before about 200 of them went in. They had been permitted to use the area until 6.30pm.
Scuffles broke out when some diehard protesters made their way up to an elevated platform flying the national and Hong Kong flags. Security guards tried to chase them off, and one protester had to be carried away on a stretcher.
At least three persons, including two security guards, were said to have felt unwell after the clash at the platform and were sent away by ambulance. By 9pm, a police spokesman said it did not have information about reports of injuries during the march and subsequent rally.
Before the start of the march, a 56-year-old man was arrested by police outside No 22 East Point Road for allegedly having damaged a protest banner. Police classified it a case of “criminal damage”.
The scene was reminiscent of the original protest that set off 79 days of road blockades in 2014, with dozens of police officers surrounding the platform to prevent more demonstrators from climbing onto it. But the officers and security guards dispersed after about half an hour, allowing protesters to freely plant themselves on the stage.
The main theme of the rally, organised by the Civil Human Rights Front, was opposition to last week’s formal endorsement by China’s top legislative body of a controversial plan to set up a joint checkpoint at the West Kowloon station of a high-speed rail link that will connect Hong Kong with Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
