Thousands of protesters in Hong Kong have come to the US Consulate and called on US President Donald Trump to liberate the city. They waved the Stars and Stripes, chanted the US national anthem, and demanded more democracy on billboards. They demanded support from the US: "Fight for freedom, is on the side of Hong Kong," shouted protesters, who submitted a petition to the US consulate.
The police used tear gas against the demonstrators, in a kind of cat-and-mouse game, people backed away from the security forces to come back to street protests elsewhere. Occasionally it came to the protests on Sunday to vandalism: activists hit windows, put fire on the street and devastated a metro station.
Meanwhile, one of the protesters, Wong Yik-mo, was again arrested by the police. As Wong reported on his lawyer on Twitter, he was arrested by officers at the airport. Accordingly, the 22-year-old is accused of having violated his deposit conditions - he wanted to travel to Germany according to the "Bild" newspaper.
1 / Joshua Wong delivered the following message through his legal representative:
I was arrested by police for "breaching bail conditions" this morning at the airport's customs and I am detained in custody now.
According to the Twitter message, Wong said the arrest was a mistake. Preliminary legal advice has shown "that the court recognized and approved my trips to Germany and the US when it granted a bail on August 30." The activist expected to be released on Monday morning after a hearing.
Wong had been arrested for several hours at the end of August and released on bail. He and his colleague Agnes Chow are accused of incitement and participation by others in participating in an illegal assembly in the Chinese Special Administrative Region on 21 June. Wong also has to be responsible for the organization of the demonstration.
Read an interview with Wong here: "Giving up is not an option"
Since June 9, there have been protests in the financial metropolis, often resulting in clashes between a small section of the protesters and the police. The protest movement fears increasing influence of the Chinese government on Hong Kong. The demonstrators also demand an independent investigation of police violence during the protests.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper had on Saturday called on the Chinese government to exercise restraint in Hong Kong. Chancellor Angela Merkel also urged a peaceful solution to the crisis in Hong Kong during her visit to China.
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Last month, Trump, who has been waging a trade conflict with China for months, called for a "humane solution" to the problems in Hong Kong. Previously, he had referred to the protests as "unrest". It is up to China to handle it.
The former British Crown Colony of Hong Kong has been a Chinese Special Administrative Region since 1997, whose inhabitants enjoy greater personal freedom than in the People's Republic. The demonstrators accuse Prime Minister Carrie Lam of being too close to the Communist government in Beijing. China is anxious to bring the demonstrations under control before the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic on October 1st.