- Title: Hong Kong rings in 2020 with tear gas and calls for revolution
- Date: 31st December 2019
- Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (DECEMBER 31, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ELECTRONIC SCREEN SHOWING COUNTDOWN TO 2020 AS PEOPLE COUNTDOWN TO NEW YEAR HONG KONG, CHINA (JANUARY 1, 2020) (REUTERS) RIOT POLICE OFFICER HOLDING BLACK FLAG RIOT POLICE FIRING TEAR GAS PROTESTERS RUNNING AWAY IN SMOKE PROTESTERS AND PEOPLE WHO PARTICIPATED IN NEW YEAR COUNTDOWN WALKING ON NATHAN ROAD PROTESTER HOLDING FLAG WRITING (English and Chinese): "FREE HONG KONG, REVOLUTION OF OUR TIMES" HONG KONG, CHINA (JANUARY 1, 2020) (REUTERS) ELECTRONIC SCREEN SHOWING 2020 VARIOUS OF PROTESTER WAVING FLAG READING (English) "LIBERATE HONG KONG, TIME FOR REVOLUTION" IN FRONT OF FIREWORK PROTESTERS GATHERING AT VICTORIA HARBOUR PEOPLE WAVING FLAGS VICTORIA HARBOUR PROTESTER WAVING FLAG READING (Mandarin and English) "HONG KONG INDEPENDENCE" VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS WAVING U.S. NATIONAL FLAG HONG KONG, CHINA (DECEMBER 31, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HOLDING UP SMART PHONE FLASH LIGHT AT VICTORIA HARBOUR
- Embargoed: 14th January 2020 18:38
- Keywords: Hong Kong protesters New Year's Eve fireworks riot police tear gas
- Location: HONG KONG, CHINA
- City: HONG KONG, CHINA
- Country: Hong Kong
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001BCB3VBB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Thousands of Hong Kong revellers welcomed in 2020 on neon-lit promenades along the picturesque Victoria Harbour as the clocks struck midnight after more than half a year of often violent unrest.
Protesters briefly blocked Nathan Road, a key artery leading through Kowloon to the harbour, after forming human chains across the Chinese-ruled city and marching through shopping malls, urging people not to give up the fight for democracy in 2020.
There were small-scale pyrotechnics on waterfront rooftops, but the grandiose fireworks launched from vessels in the centre of the harbour, broadcast around the world every year, were absent.
Authorities had cancelled the popular new year fireworks for the first time in a decade, citing security concerns.
The protests began in June 2019 in response to a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, where courts are controlled by the Communist Party, and have evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement.
(Production: Xihao Jiang, Joyce Zhou, Eleanor Whalley) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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