- Title: Hong Kong police draw gun, use pepper spray to clear protesters
- Date: 22nd December 2019
- Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (DECEMBER 22, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLICE ARRESTING PROTESTORS PROTESTORS THROWING BOTTLES AND POLICE SPRAYING PEPPER SPRAY VARIOUS OF PROTESTORS GATHERING AT THE PUBLIC SQUARE (SOUNDBITE) (English) 47-YEAR-OLD DESIGNER, IDENTIFIED AS ROY, SAYING: "I think that, basically, we are all fighting against a totalitarian regime, and because of that, we found solidarity in Uighurs with East Turkistan. And we don't want what is happening to them happen here or we don't want China to become this undefeatable venom." VARIOUS OF MASKED PROTESTORS WAVING FLAGS TWO MASKED PROTESTORS HOLDING HANDS VARIOUS OF A PROTESTOR WHO IS WEARING A OZIL'S FOOTBALL T-SHIRT (SOUNDBITE) (English) 50-YEAR-OLD RETIRED WORKER, LAM, SAYING: "I think he (Mesut Ozil) should disregard China and what he thinks is right. The whole world will stand with him. I am not a fan with (of) Arsenal but I stand with him." VARIOUS OF PROTESTORS GATHERING AT EDINBURGH SQUARE
- Embargoed: 5th January 2020 11:21
- Keywords: Arsenal Clash Hong Kong Mesut Ozil Police Uighur Muslim Xinjiang protest
- Location: HONG KONG, CHINA
- City: HONG KONG, CHINA
- Country: Hong Kong
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003BB230P3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Hong Kong riot police clashed with protesters on Sunday (December 22) as they tried to disperse crowds in the heart heart of the city's financial district after a largely peaceful rally in support of China's ethnic Uighurs turned chaotic.
Police used pepper spray and one drew a gun as protesters heckled them, pushed them and threw things at them.
Earlier in the afternoon more than 1,000 people rallied calmly, waving Uighur flags and posters and holding up signs reading "Free Uyghur, Free Hong Kong" and "Fake 'autonomy' in China results in genocide".
The protest comes after midfielder Mesut Ozil of English soccer club Arsenal caused a furor in China after he criticized the country's policies toward the Muslim ethnic minority in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang.Ozil, a German Muslim of Turkish origin, tweeted that Uighurs were "warriors who resist persecution" and criticized both China's strong hand in Xinjiang and the relative silence of Muslims in response.
(Production: Mehmet Emin Caliskan, Joyce Zhou, Yoyo Chow, Masako Iijima) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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