Riot police now stalking Star ferry pier about 40 on ground and walkway...not sure why the rally is legal
Riot police now stalking Star ferry pier about 40 on ground and walkway...not sure why the rally is legal
Looks like it is just squads of people wandering around. Does not really look like a rally is going to happen at Chater Garden.
Was there a specific cause for the release of the tear gas or (I suspect) the police just decided to randomly charge the crowd to terminate the gathering?
I am waiting to disperse...police have choked off many routes, crowd kept moving...I heard speakers but then it was called off. We are surrounded on all sides by police...
how likely would the UK or the EU pass into law something similar to America's Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019?
Last edited by nivek2046; 19-01-2020 at 05:19 PM.
https://twitter.com/HongKongHermit/s...20566884347904
As I said elsewhere on the internet...
"this will obviously make people more supportive of police actions and more likely to condemn violent protesters" (sarcasm)
Of course it spilled over into neighboring roads! Seems to have been the plan, just so it could be canceled. I was never able to get near the action, was near the war memorial when it was canceled. Finally had to use my gweilo superpowers to walk past the police vans and into the tunnel to reach the bridge to the ferry. All the helpers had left when the crowd was panicking a bit when we heard something being fired, probably a round of tear gas as everyone was coughing after that. Got some cute Pepe and LIHKG pig New Year's signs. I don't know why it was called off, seemed to be a very peaceful crowd but, of course, way too many people for Chater garden.
EU tends to be more hesitant and cautious in opposing China, they prefer to warn Beijing behind doors rather than openly castigate them like the US Congress. Brussels do share some of Washington's concerns in terms of trade, intellectual property rights with China. But Brussels does not share Washington's ideological position of seeing China as a threat. So they tend historically to be less proactive in implementing human rights sanctions on Beijing.
I'm not saying EU will never do what the US Congress did, but they just are less keen than Washington. It will probably take more serious measures, like more deaths in the protests caused by live rounds from the police, to do this.
Last edited by Coolboy; 19-01-2020 at 06:08 PM.