More than 20 people have appeared in court in Hong Kong charged with rioting, as hundreds of supporters gathered outside the building chanting “revolution of our time” and “liberate Hong Kong”.
The hearings marked the first time authorities have resorted to the serious charges of rioting since the beginning of a wave of unrest that has plunged the former British colony into its biggest political crisis since its return to Chinese rule in 1997.
The charges, which follow arrests during violent clashes between police and protesters on Sunday, infuriated activists who have demanded that the government avoid using the term “riot” to refer to the demonstrations.
Under Hong Kong law, rioting is defined as an unlawful assembly of three or more people where any person “commits a breach of the peace”, and a conviction can carry a 10-year prison sentence.
As the crisis in Hong Kong mounted, reports on Wednesday said the US was monitoring what a senior Trump administration official called a buildup of Chinese forces on Hong Kong’s border. Although the nature of the Chinese buildup was not clear, the anonymous official told Bloomberg that units of the Chinese military or armed police had gathered at the border.
Quick guide What are the Hong Kong protests about?
The protests were triggered by a controversial bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, where the Communist party controls the courts, but have since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement.
Public anger – fuelled by the aggressive tactics used by the police against demonstrators – has collided with years of frustration over worsening inequality and the cost of living in one of the world's most expensive, densely populated cities.
The protest movement was given fresh impetus on 21 July when gangs of men attacked protesters and commuters at a mass transit station – while authorities seemingly did little to intervene.
Underlying the movement is a push for full democracy in the city, whose leader is chosen by a committee dominated by a pro-Beijing establishment rather than by direct elections.
Protesters have vowed to keep their movement going until their core demands are met, such as the resignation of the city’s leader, Carrie Lam, an independent inquiry into police tactics, an amnesty for those arrested and a permanent withdrawal of the bill.
Beijing’s influence over Hong Kong has grown in recent years, as activists have been jailed and pro-democracy lawmakers disqualified from running or holding office. Independent booksellers have disappeared from the city, before reappearing in mainland China facing charges.
Under the terms of the agreement by which the former British colony was returned to Chinese control in 1997, the semi-autonomous region was meant to maintain a “high degree of autonomy” through an independent judiciary, a free press and an open market economy, a framework known as “one country, two systems”.
The extradition bill was seen as an attempt to undermine this and to give Beijing the ability to try pro-democracy activists under the judicial system of the mainland.
Lam has shown no sign of backing down beyond agreeing to suspend the extradition bill, while Beijing has issued increasingly shrill condemnations but has left it to the city's semi-autonomous government to deal with the situation. Meanwhile police have violently clashed directly with protesters, repeatedly firing teargas and rubber bullets.
Beijing has ramped up its accusations that foreign countries are “fanning the fire” of unrest in the city. China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi has ordered the US to “immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs in any form”.
News of the charges quickly prompted protests outside two police stations late on Tuesday.
Several hundred people gathered in the streets outside the Kwai Chung police station. Police used pepper spray to try to disperse them. One officer also appeared carrying a shotgun, which he pointed at protesters. The South China Morning Post reported that the gun had been loaded with bean bag rounds.
In one video circulated on social media, a police officer was seen punching a photographer, then wildly waving a baton at a journalist, who was wearing a yellow vest and who was forced to flee.
Fireworks were set off just before 3am at another police station, injuring six men. Video footage on social media appeared to show a car driving by the Tin Shui Wai police station as fireworks flared where protesters were gathered. Five people were taken to a hospital and the sixth man declined medical treatment at the scene, police said. It was not clear who was responsible.
As the demonstration continued into the early hours of Wednesday, protesters and supporters remained highly wary of being identified by the authorities and suffering potential retribution at their places of work and study.
Nine of the defendants had been released on bail of HK$1,000 (US$128) by noon, Reuters reported. They were ordered to remain in Hong Kong and a curfew was imposed between midnight and 6am.
“I’m not scared to protest. This whole thing today is just making me more angry,” said Gartner, a 21-year-old protester outside the court who declined to give his full name. “I don’t think it will scare people.”
“The Chinese government just wants to scare people not to go out and protest again,” Syrus, 19, said outside the court, where an approaching typhoon brought blustery conditions on Wednesday afternoon.
Police said in a statement on Tuesday that the people facing riot charges had set up roadblocks, broke fences, damaged street signs and attacked officers with bricks and iron rods.
The unannounced protests on Tuesday capped another day of unrest. During the morning rush-hour, commuters argued with demonstrators who blocked subway train doors in their continuing campaign to demand greater accountability from the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s government.
The action targeted rush-hour traffic at several stations. MTR responded by providing minibuses to replace delayed trains, and normal service was restored by around noon.
One protester, Ken Chan, said he wanted MTR officials to explain why they allegedly failed to take action on 21 July when a large gang of men in white shirts beat dozens of people inside a train station as a huge protest was winding down.
“How could they let the triads in white attack people on the platform randomly, including the elderly and children in the train?” said Chan, 32. “Some of the elderly got smacked on their heads, but [MTR staff] turned a blind eye to it.”
Lorraine Lee, 26, said the subway disruption was an attempt to remind people of the government’s alleged failure to deal with social, economic and political injustices.
“The government has not been addressing the problems in our society,” Lee said. “That is why now Hongkongers have no choice but to use different ‘creative’ approaches to remind people what is happening in Hong Kong.”
The South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday that the city’s corruption watchdog was setting up a special group to investigate the police’s response to the 21 July attacks. Many protesters have accused the police of colluding with triads, Hong Kong’s organised crime syndicates, and of failing to protect the public.
The disruption is part of a pro-democracy movement that has led to hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets this summer for marches and rallies. The protests have shaken the government in Hong Kong while the Chinese authorities have accused unidentified foreign actors of encouraging the protests.
Activists began protesting in early June for the government to withdraw an extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to stand trial in mainland China, where critics say their legal rights would be threatened. The government suspended the bill, but the protests have expanded to include call for democracy and government accountability.
Associated Press contributed to this report
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