Live Assassination

Hong Kong police accused of being 'trigger-happy and nuts' as crowds protest shooting of teen

By Greg Norman


A Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker is accusing the semi-autonomous region’s police of being “trigger-happy and nuts” after an officer shot a teenage protester at close range in the chest during demonstrations this week.
The blistering criticism comes as hundreds of people and classmates of 18-year-old Tsang Chi-kin rallied outside his school Wednesday, chanting anti-police slogans and demanding accountability.

An officer fired at Tsang Tuesday after the teen struck him with a metal rod – making Tsang the first known victim of police gunfire since the protests began in June, the Associated Press reports.
"The Hong Kong police have gone trigger-happy and nuts," pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo said Wednesday.
"The sensible police response should have been to use a police baton or pepper spray, etc., to fight back,” Mo added, after viewing a video of the incident. 

“It wasn't exactly an extreme situation and the use of a live bullet simply cannot be justified."

Hundreds of students at a Hong Kong college staged a strike Wednesday to condemn the police shooting of a teenager during pro-democracy protests that marred China's National Day. 

Tsang is currently hospitalized and his condition was described by the government as stable on Wednesday.
Sitting crossed-legged, some of his supporters Wednesday held an arm across their chest below their left shoulder — the location of the teenager's gunshot wound. 

One held a hand-written message condemning "thug police."
Schoolmates told the Associated Press that Tsang loves basketball and was passionate about the pro-democracy cause. 

A student who wore a Guy Fawkes mask and declined to be named because of fear of retribution told the Associated Press that Tsang was "like a big brother" to him and other junior students.
"During the protests, we would feel safe if he is around because he was always the first to charge forward and would protect us when we were in danger," the student said.
"I vividly remember him saying that he would rather die than be arrested. What an awful twist of fate that it was he, of all people, who was shot by the police."

Anti-government protesters march at Central district in Hong Kong on Wednesday. 

Hong Kong is a former British colony that's been part of China since 1997 and which Beijing says benefits from autonomy, crediting a "one country, two systems" approach.
The structure allows the city certain democratic rights that are not afforded to people on the mainland — but, in recent years, some in Hong Kong have accused the Communist Party-ruled central government of slowly stripping their freedoms.
Hong Kong police, who have defended the officer's use of force against Tsang as "reasonable and lawful,” says the teenager has been arrested despite being hospitalized and that authorities will decide later whether to press charges.
Police Commissioner Stephen Lo said late Tuesday that the officer had feared for his life and made "a split-second" decision to fire a single shot at close range.
Chinese state media also defended the officer’s actions, with the Xinhua News Agency publishing a commentary early Wednesday calling them “totally legal, legitimate and appropriate,” according to the South China Morning Post.

Yet the warning appeared to fall flat Wednesday as hundreds of black-clad demonstrators also protested at a luxury mall in Kowloon district. 

Elsewhere, more than 1,000 office workers skipped their lunch to join an impromptu march in the city's business district against the police shooting.
British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab criticized the shooting as "disproportionate" and U.S. lawmakers also joined in the condemnation.

Meanwhile, an Indonesian journalist who was shot in the face with a police projectile on Sunday has been left blinded in one eye, her lawyer told the Hong Kong Free Press.
“Doctors treating Ms Veby Mega Indah have today informed her that regrettably the injury she received as a result of being shot by police, will result in permanent blindness in her right eye,” Michael Vidler was quoted as saying. 

“She was informed that the pupil of her eye was ruptured by the force of the impact. The exact percentage of permanent impairment can only be assessed after surgery.”

China pulls extradition bill, but too little too late, say Hong Kong protesters

By James Pomfret, Clare Jim

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Wednesday withdrew an extradition bill that triggered months of often violent protests so the Chinese-ruled city can move forward from a “highly vulnerable and dangerous” place and find solutions.

Her televised announcement came after Reuters reports on Friday and Monday revealing Beijing thwarted an earlier proposal from Lam to withdraw the bill and she had said privately that she would resign if she could.
“Lingering violence is damaging the very foundations of our society, especially the rule of law,” a somber Lam said as she sat wearing a navy blue jacket and pink shirt with her hands folded on a desk.
It was not clear when the recording was made. 

The withdrawal needs the approval of the Legislative Council, which is not expected to oppose Lam.
The bill would have allowed extraditions to mainland China where courts are controlled by the Communist Party. 

Its withdrawal is a key demand of protesters but just one of five. 

The move came after pitched battles across the former British colony of 7 million. 

More than 1,000 protesters were arrested.
Many are furious about vicious police brutality and the number of arrests and want an independent inquiry.
“The government will formally withdraw the bill in order to fully allay public concerns,” Lam said.
“I pledge that the government will seriously follow up the recommendations of the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Council) report. From this month, I and my principal officials will reach out to the community to start a direct dialogue ... we must find ways to address the discontent in society and look for solutions.”
The protests began in March but snowballed in June and have evolved into a push for greater democracy for the city which returned to China in 1997. 

It was not clear if killing the bill would help end the unrest. 

The immediate reaction appeared skeptical.

“FIVE DEMANDS, NOT ONE MISSING”

Lawmakers said the move should have come earlier.
“The damage has been done. The scars and wounds are still bleeding,” said pro-democracy legislator Claudia Mo. 

“She thinks she can use a garden hose to put out a hill fire. That’s not going to be acceptable.”
Many people on street corners after nightfall were shouting: “Five demands, not one missing.”
“We still have four other demands. We hope people won’t forget that,” said a woman speaking for the protest movement who declined to identify herself except by the surname Chan. 

“The mobilization power won’t decrease.”
Riot police fired beanbag guns and used pepper spray on Tuesday to clear demonstrators from outside the Mong Kok police station and in Prince Edward metro station, with one man taken out on a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his face, television footage showed.
The four other demands are: retraction of the word “riot” to describe rallies, release of all demonstrators, an independent inquiry into police brutality and the right for Hong Kong people to choose their own leaders.
“Too little, too late,” Joshua Wong, a leader of pro-democracy protests in 2014 that were the precursor to the current unrest, said on his Facebook page.
In the United States, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a persistent critic of Beijing’s attempts to undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy, called Lam’s move “welcome but insufficient.”
“The Chinese Communist Party should uphold its commitments to Hong Kong’s autonomy and stop aggravating the situation with threats of violence,” he said in a statement.
U.S. Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi called the move long overdue and demanded an end to the use of force against demonstrators. 

Pelosi said she looked forward to the swift advance of bipartisan legislation to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong.
Rubio has co-sponsored a Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act that would require annual certification of Hong Kong’s autonomy to justify special treatment the territory enjoys under U.S. law.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post on Tuesday, Rubio said the United States and the rest of the world needed to make clear to China that aggression toward Hong Kong risked “swift, severe and lasting consequences.”
He said the U.S. administration should make clear it could respond “flexibly and robustly,” including with sanctions against the police force and individuals responsible for abuses. 

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CHINESE WARNINGS
In a voice recording obtained by Reuters, Lam said at a meeting last week that her room to find a political solution to the crisis was “very limited”, as authorities in Beijing now viewed the situation as a matter of national security.
The protests are the biggest popular challenge to Chinese dictator Xi Jinping’s rule since he took power in 2012. 

Beijing denies meddling in Hong Kong’s affairs, yet it warned again on Tuesday that it would act if protests threatened Chinese security and sovereignty.
Pro-Beijing lawmaker Cheung Kwok-kwan said Lam’s announcement was not a compromise to appease those promoting violence but a bid to win over moderates in the protest camp.
“It was likely speaking to the so-called peaceful, rational, non-violent people who were dissatisfied with the government’s response before,” he said.
The chief executive’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill’s withdrawal.
Hong Kong returned to China under a “one country, two systems” formula that allowed it to keep freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, like the freedom to protest and an independent legal system, hence the anger at the extradition bill and perceived creeping influence by Beijing.
Beijing has regularly warned about the impact on Hong Kong’s economy.
Cathay Pacific Airways has been one of the biggest corporate casualties.
China’s aviation regulator demanded Cathay suspend staff from flying over its airspace if they were involved in, or supported, the demonstrations and the airline has laid off at least 20 personnel, including pilots and cabin crew.
On Wednesday it announced the resignation of chairman John Slosar following the departure of CEO Rupert Hogg last month.

Thousands march in Hong Kong for release of pro-democracy leaders

In sweltering heat, protesters wear brown prison uniforms in homage to jailed Alex Chow, Nathan Law and Joshua Wong
By Tom Phillips in Beijing

People march in support of the imprisoned pro-democracy leaders in Hong Kong. 

Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Hong Kong – some clad in prison uniforms – to demand the release of three of the former British colony’s best-known pro-democracy leaders.

Alex Chow, Nathan Law and Joshua Wong – key leaders of 2014’s umbrella movement protests – were jailed for between six and eight months on Thursday for their involvement in an “unlawful assembly” that helped launch those historic demonstrations.
Supporters have denounced the court’s ruling as a politically motivated attack on the semi-autonomous city’s democracy movement while Hong Kong’s last governor, Chris Patten, called it a deplorable decision that would deepen fears about Beijing’s erosion of the territory’s freedoms.
Police said about 22,000 demonstrators joined the march across Hong Kong island – from Wan Chai to the court of final appeal in its financial centre – on Sunday afternoon to voice their anger, local broadcaster RTHK reported.
Despite sweltering heat, some protesters wore brown prison uniforms in homage to the trio of jailed campaigners and 13 other activists who were also imprisoned earlier in the week.

Thousands of people take to the streets in Hong Kong. 

“I’m trying to send the message that if you fight for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, then it is a crime. And if it’s a crime, then we are all criminals,” said Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy legislator, who was among the marchers. 

“I believe they are prisoners of conscience,” Mo said.
Others came carrying banners that read: “Free all political prisoners”, “One prisoner of conscience is one too many” and “It’s not a crime to fight against totalitarianism”.
“In the past when we chanted ‘release political prisoners,’ we were referring to [those in mainland China] ... but now it’s Hong Kong,” Derek Lam, a local pro-democracy activist, told the protest.
Ray Chan, another pro-democracy legislator, said: “We want to let those who have been jailed and those who are facing political prosecution know that they are not alone. What they have done was righteous and Hong Kongers do not believe they deserved what they got.
“Some have said the democracy movement has stalled. Today we are sending a strong message to those in power that the movement never dies. I came out today to tell those in power that we are united and we are not afraid.”
A photograph of the protest was posted on Wong’s Twitter account:

Hong Kong’s government has scotched claims politics was behind the decision to jail the trio. Matthew Cheung, the city’s number-two official, blamed those allegations on “bias in the views of foreign media”.
However, democracy campaigners are convinced the activists were imprisoned to stop them running for office during the next five years. 

Mo claimed the decision to jail Chow, Law and Wong was part of “Beijing’s grand plan” to cripple the pro-democracy camp and strip Hong Kong of its freedoms. 

But she insisted the plan would fail because of the passion of the city’s increasingly politicised youth. “We will have many more Joshua Wongs coming along,” she said.
In a letter to the Financial Times (paywall), Lord Patten said locking the trio up would fail to curtail Hong Kong’s ambitions for greater democracy. 

“It will surely have the opposite effect,” he wrote. 

“The names of Joshua Wong, Alex Chow and Nathan Law will be remembered long after the names of those who have persecuted them have been forgotten and swept into the ashcan of history.”
Speaking to RTHK, Eddie Chu, another pro-democracy legislator, said it was time for Hong Kong’s activists to abandon their computer screens and “pour [on to] the street” in protest.