Million people march across Hong Kong against China: "Liberty is not free"

The new year continued in exactly the same place as 2019 ended, with crowds marching around the city demanding democracy and freedom from Beijing. Police clash with masked protesters, and Chinese President has made it clear that he will not give up the former British colony

Million people march across Hong Kong against China: "Liberty is not free"

About a million people protested across Hong Kong on Wednesday on its first day of the year - organizers of the pro-democracy protest against the Chinese government said for six months. In some cases, the demonstrations surfaced with violence, with police using tear gas and a cannon against the crowd of families. Most of the protest rallies were peaceful.

In Wenchai County, some protesters sprayed graffiti and broke ATMs at HSBC Bank Branch. Police used pepper gas to ward off rioters. Some children cried with tear gas. The protesters, some of them wearing masks and dressed in black, reassembled and formed their own lines of defense, while police blocked roads to prevent the crowds from completing the march towards nightfall.

"We will not forget, we will not forgive." Protesters in front of Hong Kong police officers today (Photo: Reuters)

Demonstrations against Hong Kong Government on New Year's Eve, January 1, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)

In some of the autonomous city districts, protesters set up checkpoints, set fire to fire and threw incendiary bottles. They created a human chain on all roads to deliver supplies to those at the front line, which included umbrellas and bricks. The protesters targeted the World Banking Corporation HSBC on the grounds that it was linked to the arrest of four members of a group that collected donations for protesters and the closure of a bank account associated with it. The bank therefore denies any connection and has condemned the "acts of vandalism" against them. "We think they are unjustified," they said.

"Freedom is not free," one of the protestors wrote. "It's hard to say 'Happy New Year' because Hong Kong citizens are not happy," said a man named Tong, who went with his two-year-old son, mother and niece. He said that without responding to protesters' demands - which include full democracy, pardon for thousands of detainees and a transparent investigation into police violence which they brutally accuse - "we cannot mark a truly happy new year."

The protesters were also joined by fresh pro-democracy politicians, who helped collect donations for the movement. The youngsters carried Hong Kong independence signs, saying the city's split from China's rule was "the only way out."

Jimmy Sham, one of the leaders of the "Civil Rights Front" who organized the march, said: "The government has already begun oppression before the start of the new year. We will stand alongside all the oppressed." Organizers also condemned the police decision to cancel the rally.

In the final seconds of the new year, before midnight, thousands received the year 2020 on the illuminated promenade along Victoria Harbor, reading the slogan of the movement - "Liberate Hong Kong, the Revolution of Our Time."

On the other hand, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a New Year speech that Beijing would "firmly defend Hong Kong's prosperity and stability" as part of a system known as "one country, two systems."

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Protesters demand to investigate police violence (Photo: Reuters)

Demonstrations against Hong Kong Government on New Year's Eve, January 1, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)

Many in Hong Kong were outraged by Beijing's tight control over the city, with a great deal of autonomy guaranteed at the end of the British rule in 1997. Beijing denies that it interfered in Hong Kong's domestic affairs, blaming the West for the riots. According to a Reuters survey, 59 percent of city residents support the protest, which broke out due to the extradition law to China that was already repealed a few months ago and has become increasingly violent in recent months.