- Title: Hong Kong protesters rally peacefully into the night
- Date: 18th August 2019
- Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (AUGUST 18, 2019) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** MAN (RED SHIRT) WHO IDENTIFIES HIMSELF AS FROM SHANGHAI / PROTESTERS HOLDING AN ANGRY PROTESTER (IN BLACK AND FACE MASK) FROM GOING TOWARDS THE MAN MAN WHO SAID HE'S FROM SHANGHAI WALKING SURROUNDED BY MEDIA VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS SHINING LASER LIGHTS ON GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS BUILDING VARIOUS OF LASERS HITTING GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS BUILDING EMBLEM OF HONG KONG POLICE SIGN READING (Cantonese) "Love Hong Kong, love peace" HONG KONG, CHINA (AUGUST 18, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TIME-LAPSE OF PEOPLE HOLDING UMBRELLAS AND MARCHING BEFORE NIGHTFALL (MUTE) PEOPLE HOLDING UMBRELLAS AND MARCHING VARIOUS OF MAN SPEAKING INTO MICROPHONE SAYING (Cantonese): "HONG KONG, FIGHT ON!" PEOPLE MARCHING HONG KONG PROTESTER, KING WONG, CHANTING (Cantonese): "HONG KONG POLICE KNOW THE LAW, BREAK THE LAW!" (SOUNDBITE) (English) 35-YEAR-OLD HONG KONG PROTESTER, KING WONG, SAYING: "Well, I totally agree (eds. note: refers to peaceful gathering like in 2014), as what the problem is, if we just stayed as what we have been doing in 2014 - that would end up with nothing. And this time, as the director of water over fire said, remember, it's now or never." HONG KONG, CHINA (AUGUST 18, 2019) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) PEOPLE WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) 35-YEAR-OLD HONG KONG PROTESTER, VICA CHAN, SAYING: "And then now the government is blaming the protesters of using all the violence to (inaudible) our views and now this protest is actually a very good testimony, testimonial to show that Hong Kongers are very peaceful. We are expressing our views very peacefully, not violently. And this is what the government wants, this is what the government demands and it is actually the best time for them to positively respond to our demands." VARIOUS OF SIGNS READING (English): "HOW CAN WE TRUST CHINA'S JUDICIAL SYSTEM" / "NO EXTRADITION TO CHINA" VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HOLDING PLACARDS READING (English and Chinese): "CAUTION" PROTESTERS CHANTING AND HOLDING BANNER READING (English and Chinese): "MORAL BOUNDARY, DO NOT CROSS" VARIOUS OF PEOPLE MARCHING AT NIGHTFALL VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SHINING FLASHLIGHT FROM PHONE PEOPLE GATHERING AT VICTORIA PARK PEOPLE WAVING HONG KONG COLONIAL AND AMERICAN FLAGS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERING IN RAIN
- Embargoed: 1st September 2019 16:53
- Keywords: law China gathering protests march extradition bill protesters Hong Kong rights rallying
- Location: HONG KONG, CHINA
- City: HONG KONG, CHINA
- Country: Hong Kong
- Topics: Fundamental Rights/Civil Liberties,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001ASQTY6F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters rallied peacefully in Hong Kong on Sunday (August 18), filling major thoroughfares under torrential downpours in the eleventh week of what have been often violent demonstrations in the Asian financial hub.
It was the calmest weekend protest since the latest demonstrations against perceived creeping Beijing influence in the former British colony began.
A small scuffle broke out when a man who identified himself as from Shanghai was almost surrounded by angry protesters late at night, but others had stopped him. The reason for the targeted attack was unknown.
Late in the evening, some demonstrators were urging others to go home and rest while others moved towards the city's financial centre chanting for the city's Beijing-backed leader Carrie Lam to step down.
One protester, King Wong, referred to protests in 2014 that paralyzed parts of the Asian financial center for 79 days in late 2014 and became known as the Umbrella Movement.
In 2014, demonstrators demanding that China's Communist Party leaders allow genuine universal suffrage in the Chinese-ruled city blocked roads in three important districts - Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok - drawing more than a million people, organizers estimated.
Police forcibly cleared the protesters in December 2014, authorities granted no democratic concessions, and four leaders were jailed.
This year's protests, which erupted in June, have stemmed from anger over a now-suspended bill that would allow criminal suspects in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China.
But the unrest has been fueled by broader worries about the erosion of freedoms guaranteed under the "one country, two systems" formula put in place after Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule in 1997, including an independent judiciary and right to protest.
(Production: Xihao Jiang, James Redmayne, Ronn Bautista, Joyce Zhou, Ebrahim Harris, Stefica Bikes, Juarawee Kittisilpa) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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