Hong Kong demonstrators have continued to take to the streets since they started protesting City Executive Carrie Lam’s extradition bill in June.
NPR reported on one notable incident which took place on Saturday, August 31, 2019, where protestors came to blows with police during that night in one of the most explosive demonstrations since the protests began in June.
That night riot police rushed into a metro station and arrested 40 people.
Riot police equipped with batons pepper-sprayed protestors inside Hong Kong’s Prince Edward metro station before detaining protestors. Video footage inside the station saw metro passengers kneeling and begging for mercy as riot police sprayed them.
The next day protesters blocked all roads, buses, and metro lines going to Hong Kong’s airport but were not able to shut it down. Riot police then arrived at the airport which caused hundreds of protestors and travelers to flee the area.
One of the most notable images from these protests was a large fire, which blazed across a street in a major commercial district. Protesters erected a barricade of stadium chairs stretching across Hong Kong’s Hennessy Road, located close to a police headquarters, and set it on fire early in the night.
Hong Kong’s protests demonstrate the ongoing conflict between the Special Administrative Region and its mainland overlords. Since it was handed in over in 1997, there has always remained speculation about Hong Kong’s political future.
With Xi Jinping at the helm, the Chinese state has taken more measures to consolidate its control over the Chinese populace. Hong Kong is one of those fronts where it will want to exert its power. At a glance, Hong Kong residents believe that Hong Kong’s attempts to streamline law enforcement with Beijing have gone too far, which is why they are fiercely protesting in the streets.
Hopefully, liberty will prevail in Hong Kong, as it remains one of the most economically free jurisdictions on the planet.
