The demonstrators in Hong Kong want to maintain the pressure on the pro-Chinese head of government Carrie Lam: On Sunday, thousands of democracy supporters again moved through the metropolis. They demand democratic reforms and an independent investigation of police violence during protests that have been going on for six months. According to the Reuters news agency, on Sunday police again used tear gas against the protesters.
Last week, the Democratic candidates won a significant victory in the Hong Kong district elections. By contrast, the pro-government camp, which had won around three-quarters of the seats in the previous elections in 2015, fell sharply. Democratic candidates will take control in at least 12 of the 18 district councils of the Chinese Special Administrative Region. Prime Minister Lam then announced that he wanted to start a dialogue. She has not yet taken concrete steps.
The protests on Sunday morning (local time) involving families with children and senior citizens were peaceful. Later, hundreds of people moved to the US Consulate. The US government has passed two laws designed to strengthen the protest movement in Hong Kong. In the future, no more goods are to be exported from the US, which the police can use against the demonstrators, such as tear gas and ammunition for rubber bullets.
Leah Millis / REUTERS
Policemen on Sunday in Hong Kong: "He could have died"
On the night of Sunday, however, the protests were less peaceful. An Internet video showed a protester attacking a passerby trying to clear a barricaded street. On the picture you can see how the passerby is struck by a metal object on the head and then crashes. Blood drips from his head.
Hong Kong police chief Tang Ping Keung condemned the attack on Sunday morning on the radio. "He could have died," Tang said. The police started an investigation. The condition of the attacked man was initially unclear.
Hospitals reported that three people were injured during the protests during the night. One of them had already been released, the others were now in stable condition.
UN Human Rights Commissioner denounces police violence
The Chinese leadership in Beijing again made it clear over the weekend that it would not tolerate any interference in what was happening in Hong Kong from the West. The occasion was now a guest post by UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, which she had published on Saturday in the "South China Morning Post". The Chinese representation at the UN in Geneva described the contribution as "flawed" and as "violation of the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter".
Bachelet had called on the Hong Kong authorities to comment on an "independent and neutral judicial inquiry into reports of excessive police brutality." The Chinese UN agency accused Bachelet of encouraging the "rioters" in Hong Kong to "further serious and radical violence".