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| Meta Title | Protesters Return to Hong Kong Streets as Struggle Broadens |
| Meta Description | Calls for acts of âcivil disobedienceâ are being made as the movement broadens into a rebellion for greater political freedom. |
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| Boilerpipe Text | Angry protesters once again stormed the political heart of Hong Kong on Friday. In a series of rolling occupations, they forced the hurried evacuation of multiple government offices and shuttering of law courts. They also surrounded police headquarters in a siege that appears set to continue into the night.
The actions erupted after the embattled administration of Chief Executive Carrie Lam refused to meet an ultimatum for her resignation and the withdrawal of a divisive extradition bill. However the government issued a statement around 8:00 p.m. local time saying that when the term of the current legislature ended, the bill would âautomatically expire.â The government âwill accept this reality,â the statement said.
Chanting a Christian hymn that has become
the anthem
of Hong Kongâs freedom movement, thousands of black-clad demonstrators began streaming into the forecourt of the legislature from early morning. They demanded the unconditional release of all protesters arrested to date and an investigation into the police handling of the demonstrations that have rocked the semi-autonomous enclave for the past 10 days.
Shortly after 11: 00 a.m., large crowds of protesters chanting âWithdraw [the bill]!â erected barricades on Harcourt Roadâa key thoroughfare in front of the government headquarters that was the center of the 2014
Umbrella Revolution
. A banner hung across the road read âThis Is Hong Kong Not China.â
Urged by
recently freed
activist
Joshua Wong
, crowds then marched on police headquarters at Arsenal Street, just under a kilometer away. They began taunting police and chanting for the release of prisoners. Officers retreated behind metal gates as demonstrators encircled the building and dragged barriers across Hennessy Road and a part of Queensway, both vital arteries.
Protesters are furious with the police over what Amnesty International alleged in a
statement
Friday was âunlawful use of force by police against peaceful protestersâ on June 12, wounding scores. Amnesty claimed that the evidence against the Hong Kong police was âirrefutable.â
On Friday, agitated demonstrators plastered police headquarters with a sign reading âFight to the bitter endâ and photographs purported to be of people injured at the earlier demonstration. Barricades were erected across main entrances to prevent officers from leaving and small side doors were sealed with zip ties. Other used ladders to reach CCTV cameras installed along the buildingâs walls and covered them with duct tape.
Addressing the crowd through a microphone, Wong said â[Police Commissioner] Stephen Lo has to come down and face Hongkongers.â He told TIME at the scene: âItâs time for the police to apologize.â
In an emotional speech that followed, democratic lawmaker Hui Chi-fung addressed protesters saying: âWeâve never had so many people surround [police] HQ. So, all the police officers here, look around at all these angry young people, those who are telling the truth. I ask you to come out immediately to face them.â
Several protesters collapsed from heat exhaustion in the oppressive June temperatures, but in general the swelling crowd appeared set for a long blockade. Wilson Chan, 25, said he would stay through the night if necessary. âIf officers start firing tear gas or attacking in any way, Iâll stay behind to help others.â
A section of the crowd almost forced an entry into the building when a gate jammed, but police were able to close it after what one witness
described
as a âdangerous situation.â
Protesters then threw up barricades on Gloucester Road, a major east-west highway, and staged sit-ins in the headquarters of Hong Kongâs taxation and immigration departments, barricading themselves in the latter. People were prevented from reaching the neighboring Wanchai Law Courts. Police were conspicuously absent.
âHong Kong people arenât protesters by nature. We enjoy having nice meals and playing computer games,â Michael, a 25-year-old protester and medical doctor told TIME. âIâd rather stay home and play computer games or listen to music, but we have no choice.â
Government workers were prevented from returning to their offices after lunch and were instead called on to join the protest. Civil servants already in the buildings began evacuating as protesters politely apologized for causing them inconvenience and held signs to guide them through the crowd. One protester held up a sign that read âI know this is hard for everyone. But weâll get through this together.â
In the late afternoon, government offices on Queenswayâhome to several departments from transport to legal aid, marriage registration, and architectural servicesâwere surrounded along with the cityâs High Court.
The Secretary for the Civil Service, Joshua Law, said that contingency plans were being put in place to enable civil servants to work elsewhere. Hong Kongâs Secretary for Justice, Teresa Cheng, meanwhile
apologized for the extradition bill
, saying that the government had âlearned a hard lesson.â
Just after 12:00 noon, police Senior Superintendent Yolanda Yu called on the crowds to peacefully end their blockade of police headquarters. Law enforcement officers said that the siege was delaying responses to emergency calls. A initial police attempt to negotiate with protesters was
drowned out by angry chants
and abandoned. Around 5:30 p.m., live TV close-ups showed what appeared to be a tense parley between officers and protesters across a metal barricade, but the talks broke up.
âA long-term warâ
By nightfall, the crowd had doubled in size and the atmosphere worsened as protesters donned hard hats and goggles as if preparing for a pitched battle. They began pelting the building with eggs and other objects. Democratic legislators appeared on the scene and called for calm, fearing large scale injuries should the building be stormed.
Karmen, a 20-year-old student, said she did not think the government would withdraw the extradition bill, but nevertheless âeven when you know what the result will be, you still have to show up to show unity. You struggle to survive before you die.â
Student unions and other groups have been calling on Hongkongers to commit acts of
âcivil disobedienceâ
in a movement that has widened from a protest against a divisive law into a rebellion for greater political freedom. It has also become a deepening embarrassment for Beijing. Many protesters wave the Union Jack, or the colonial Hong Kong flag, as a repudiation of Chinese sovereignty. One protester on Friday carried a banner reading âReturn Hong Kong to Us.â
âThis is a long-term war and we need to be strategizing next steps,â said Jeff, a 24-year-old protester outside the legislature.
Writing Thursday in British newspaper the
Independent
, Wong and fellow campaigner Alex Chow suggested that the movementâs aims were no longer confined to Hong Kong.
âOur long-term hopes rely on whether we can pressurize the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] to devolve its power to the people and implement genuine electoral democracy at various administrative and community levels,â
they said
. âWe must remember that a democratic Hong Kong could lead to a more democratic China.â
Many in Taiwan likewise hope for a freer China and have been staging rallies in support of the Hong Kong demonstrations. As protesters gathered in Hong Kong Friday, a man with a microphone read aloud an anonymous message of support, sent from the island that Beijing regards as a renegade province: âPlease donât give up on what you are fighting to protect. You have awakened so many people who were asleep.â
On Friday, dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei
released a video
throwing his support behind the protesters and characterizing Hong Kongâs freedom struggle as being between âa disciplined and civilized worldâ and âan irrational society with no principles.â
âThe situation is now at a dead endâ
The latest protests follow days of unrest. On June 9,
huge numbers of people
âmore than a million, according to organizersâmarched to protest the bill, which would, for the first time, have allowed the extradition of fugitives to mainland China. The government says the bill is necessary to prevent Hong Kong from becoming a haven for criminals, but critics fear that Beijing will use it to detain political opponents and silence its many detractors in the enclave.
On June 12, protests around the legislature
turned violent
, forcing the body, which is dominated by pro-Beijing lawmakers, to shelve a debate on the measure. More than 80 were injured in clashes with police, who used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear the streets.
Lam then announced that the legislation would be
postponed
, but this did not pacify Hongkongers, who turned out in
even greater numbers
on June 16 to call for the billâs complete withdrawal and Lamâs ouster. The march, which organizers claim was two million strong, saw the young and the elderly, political activists and business figures, religious groups and families, all take to the streets in an unprecedented show of unity.
The marches forced
a public apology
from Lam for the extradition debacle, but it was criticized for being belated and insufficient. Protesters are now expected to step up their actions in the run up to the July 1 anniversary of the cityâs return to Chinese sovereignty. A protest has also been called for June 26. One woman told TIME Friday that demonstrators needed to be âless passive and reliant on waiting for the governmentâs move.â
Lawmaker Claudia Mo did not hold out hope for a negotiated solution. âThe situation is now at a dead end,â she
told
local media. âCarrie Lam said she has apologized, but she is the one who caused this situation, and she must face it.â
Speaking earlier in an exclusive
interview
with TIME, Wong said the battle was far from over. âThe Hong Kong government and Beijing have turned a whole generation of students from citizens to dissidents,â he said. âI think President Xi might be really angry at how Carrie Lam generated more than a million dissidents that live in and love this place.â
â
With reporting by Laignee Barron, Amy Gunia, Abhishyant Kidangoor, Hillary Leung and Feliz Solomon / Hong Kong |
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# Escalating Their Campaign Into a Push for Political Freedom, Protesters Return to Hong Kong's Streets
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by
[TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/)
Updated:
Dec 12, 2023 10:54 PM CUT
Published:
Jun 21, 2019 1:23 AM CUT

Protesters gather outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong on June 21, 2019.
Protesters gather outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong on June 21, 2019.HECTOR RETAMALâAFP/Getty Images
by
[TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/)
Updated:
Dec 12, 2023 10:54 PM CUT
Published:
Jun 21, 2019 1:23 AM CUT
Angry protesters once again stormed the political heart of Hong Kong on Friday. In a series of rolling occupations, they forced the hurried evacuation of multiple government offices and shuttering of law courts. They also surrounded police headquarters in a siege that appears set to continue into the night.
The actions erupted after the embattled administration of Chief Executive Carrie Lam refused to meet an ultimatum for her resignation and the withdrawal of a divisive extradition bill. However the government issued a statement around 8:00 p.m. local time saying that when the term of the current legislature ended, the bill would âautomatically expire.â The government âwill accept this reality,â the statement said.
Chanting a Christian hymn that has become [the anthem](https://time.com/5608882/sing-hallelujah-to-the-lord-protestors-hong-kong-extradition-anthem/ "undefined") of Hong Kongâs freedom movement, thousands of black-clad demonstrators began streaming into the forecourt of the legislature from early morning. They demanded the unconditional release of all protesters arrested to date and an investigation into the police handling of the demonstrations that have rocked the semi-autonomous enclave for the past 10 days.
Shortly after 11: 00 a.m., large crowds of protesters chanting âWithdraw \[the bill\]!â erected barricades on Harcourt Roadâa key thoroughfare in front of the government headquarters that was the center of the 2014 [Umbrella Revolution](https://time.com/3632739/hong-kong-umbrella-revolution-photos/ "undefined"). A banner hung across the road read âThis Is Hong Kong Not China.â
Urged by [recently freed](https://time.com/5608077/joshua-wong-hong-kong-protests-extradition/ "undefined") activist [Joshua Wong](https://time.com/tag/joshua-wong/ "undefined"), crowds then marched on police headquarters at Arsenal Street, just under a kilometer away. They began taunting police and chanting for the release of prisoners. Officers retreated behind metal gates as demonstrators encircled the building and dragged barriers across Hennessy Road and a part of Queensway, both vital arteries.
Advertisement
Protesters are furious with the police over what Amnesty International alleged in a [statement](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/0576/2019/en/ "undefined") Friday was âunlawful use of force by police against peaceful protestersâ on June 12, wounding scores. Amnesty claimed that the evidence against the Hong Kong police was âirrefutable.â
On Friday, agitated demonstrators plastered police headquarters with a sign reading âFight to the bitter endâ and photographs purported to be of people injured at the earlier demonstration. Barricades were erected across main entrances to prevent officers from leaving and small side doors were sealed with zip ties. Other used ladders to reach CCTV cameras installed along the buildingâs walls and covered them with duct tape.
Addressing the crowd through a microphone, Wong said â\[Police Commissioner\] Stephen Lo has to come down and face Hongkongers.â He told TIME at the scene: âItâs time for the police to apologize.â
In an emotional speech that followed, democratic lawmaker Hui Chi-fung addressed protesters saying: âWeâve never had so many people surround \[police\] HQ. So, all the police officers here, look around at all these angry young people, those who are telling the truth. I ask you to come out immediately to face them.â
Advertisement
**Read more:** [*Why Hong Kongâs protesters arenât calling it quits after the suspension of a controversial extradition bill*](https://time.com/5607099/why-hong-kong-protests-extradition/ "undefined")
Several protesters collapsed from heat exhaustion in the oppressive June temperatures, but in general the swelling crowd appeared set for a long blockade. Wilson Chan, 25, said he would stay through the night if necessary. âIf officers start firing tear gas or attacking in any way, Iâll stay behind to help others.â
A section of the crowd almost forced an entry into the building when a gate jammed, but police were able to close it after what one witness [described](https://twitter.com/KongTsungGan/status/1141957993229148160 "undefined") as a âdangerous situation.â
Protesters then threw up barricades on Gloucester Road, a major east-west highway, and staged sit-ins in the headquarters of Hong Kongâs taxation and immigration departments, barricading themselves in the latter. People were prevented from reaching the neighboring Wanchai Law Courts. Police were conspicuously absent.
Advertisement
âHong Kong people arenât protesters by nature. We enjoy having nice meals and playing computer games,â Michael, a 25-year-old protester and medical doctor told TIME. âIâd rather stay home and play computer games or listen to music, but we have no choice.â
Government workers were prevented from returning to their offices after lunch and were instead called on to join the protest. Civil servants already in the buildings began evacuating as protesters politely apologized for causing them inconvenience and held signs to guide them through the crowd. One protester held up a sign that read âI know this is hard for everyone. But weâll get through this together.â
In the late afternoon, government offices on Queenswayâhome to several departments from transport to legal aid, marriage registration, and architectural servicesâwere surrounded along with the cityâs High Court.
The Secretary for the Civil Service, Joshua Law, said that contingency plans were being put in place to enable civil servants to work elsewhere. Hong Kongâs Secretary for Justice, Teresa Cheng, meanwhile [apologized for the extradition bill](https://www.doj.gov.hk/eng/public/blog/20190621_blog1.html "undefined"), saying that the government had âlearned a hard lesson.â
Advertisement
Just after 12:00 noon, police Senior Superintendent Yolanda Yu called on the crowds to peacefully end their blockade of police headquarters. Law enforcement officers said that the siege was delaying responses to emergency calls. A initial police attempt to negotiate with protesters was [drowned out by angry chants](https://twitter.com/XScmp/status/1141925726599303168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1141925726599303168%7Ctwgr%5E393039363b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scmp.com%2Fnews%2Fhong-kong%2Fpolitics%2Farticle%2F3015463%2Fhong-kong-extradition-bill-protesters-occupy-road-leading "undefined") and abandoned. Around 5:30 p.m., live TV close-ups showed what appeared to be a tense parley between officers and protesters across a metal barricade, but the talks broke up.
## âA long-term warâ
By nightfall, the crowd had doubled in size and the atmosphere worsened as protesters donned hard hats and goggles as if preparing for a pitched battle. They began pelting the building with eggs and other objects. Democratic legislators appeared on the scene and called for calm, fearing large scale injuries should the building be stormed.
Karmen, a 20-year-old student, said she did not think the government would withdraw the extradition bill, but nevertheless âeven when you know what the result will be, you still have to show up to show unity. You struggle to survive before you die.â
Advertisement
Student unions and other groups have been calling on Hongkongers to commit acts of [âcivil disobedienceâ](https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1463760-20190619.htm?spTabChangeable=0 "undefined") in a movement that has widened from a protest against a divisive law into a rebellion for greater political freedom. It has also become a deepening embarrassment for Beijing. Many protesters wave the Union Jack, or the colonial Hong Kong flag, as a repudiation of Chinese sovereignty. One protester on Friday carried a banner reading âReturn Hong Kong to Us.â
âThis is a long-term war and we need to be strategizing next steps,â said Jeff, a 24-year-old protester outside the legislature.
Writing Thursday in British newspaper the *Independent*, Wong and fellow campaigner Alex Chow suggested that the movementâs aims were no longer confined to Hong Kong.
âOur long-term hopes rely on whether we can pressurize the CCP \[Chinese Communist Party\] to devolve its power to the people and implement genuine electoral democracy at various administrative and community levels,â [they said](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/hong-kong-protests-joshua-wong-extradition-bill-democracy-umbrella-movement-a8967251.html "undefined"). âWe must remember that a democratic Hong Kong could lead to a more democratic China.â
Advertisement
Many in Taiwan likewise hope for a freer China and have been staging rallies in support of the Hong Kong demonstrations. As protesters gathered in Hong Kong Friday, a man with a microphone read aloud an anonymous message of support, sent from the island that Beijing regards as a renegade province: âPlease donât give up on what you are fighting to protect. You have awakened so many people who were asleep.â
On Friday, dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei [released a video](https://twitter.com/hoccgoomusic/status/1141976422275112960 "undefined") throwing his support behind the protesters and characterizing Hong Kongâs freedom struggle as being between âa disciplined and civilized worldâ and âan irrational society with no principles.â
## âThe situation is now at a dead endâ
The latest protests follow days of unrest. On June 9, [huge numbers of people](https://time.com/5601156/hong-kong-extradition-law-protests/ "undefined")âmore than a million, according to organizersâmarched to protest the bill, which would, for the first time, have allowed the extradition of fugitives to mainland China. The government says the bill is necessary to prevent Hong Kong from becoming a haven for criminals, but critics fear that Beijing will use it to detain political opponents and silence its many detractors in the enclave.
Advertisement
On June 12, protests around the legislature [turned violent](https://time.com/5605154/hong-kong-extradition-strike-protests/ "undefined"), forcing the body, which is dominated by pro-Beijing lawmakers, to shelve a debate on the measure. More than 80 were injured in clashes with police, who used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear the streets.
Lam then announced that the legislation would be [postponed](https://time.com/5607678/hong-kong-extradition-bill-suspended/ "undefined"), but this did not pacify Hongkongers, who turned out in [even greater numbers](https://time.com/5607046/hong-kong-protest-extradition/ "undefined") on June 16 to call for the billâs complete withdrawal and Lamâs ouster. The march, which organizers claim was two million strong, saw the young and the elderly, political activists and business figures, religious groups and families, all take to the streets in an unprecedented show of unity.
The marches forced [a public apology](https://time.com/5608881/hong-kong-carrie-lam-apology/ "undefined") from Lam for the extradition debacle, but it was criticized for being belated and insufficient. Protesters are now expected to step up their actions in the run up to the July 1 anniversary of the cityâs return to Chinese sovereignty. A protest has also been called for June 26. One woman told TIME Friday that demonstrators needed to be âless passive and reliant on waiting for the governmentâs move.â
Advertisement
Lawmaker Claudia Mo did not hold out hope for a negotiated solution. âThe situation is now at a dead end,â she [told](https://twitter.com/HongKongFP/status/1142005604216537088 "undefined") local media. âCarrie Lam said she has apologized, but she is the one who caused this situation, and she must face it.â
Speaking earlier in an exclusive [interview](https://time.com/5608178/10-questions-hong-kong-democracy-joshua-wong/ "undefined") with TIME, Wong said the battle was far from over. âThe Hong Kong government and Beijing have turned a whole generation of students from citizens to dissidents,â he said. âI think President Xi might be really angry at how Carrie Lam generated more than a million dissidents that live in and love this place.â
â*With reporting by Laignee Barron, Amy Gunia, Abhishyant Kidangoor, Hillary Leung and Feliz Solomon / Hong Kong*
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| Readable Markdown | Angry protesters once again stormed the political heart of Hong Kong on Friday. In a series of rolling occupations, they forced the hurried evacuation of multiple government offices and shuttering of law courts. They also surrounded police headquarters in a siege that appears set to continue into the night.
The actions erupted after the embattled administration of Chief Executive Carrie Lam refused to meet an ultimatum for her resignation and the withdrawal of a divisive extradition bill. However the government issued a statement around 8:00 p.m. local time saying that when the term of the current legislature ended, the bill would âautomatically expire.â The government âwill accept this reality,â the statement said.
Chanting a Christian hymn that has become [the anthem](https://time.com/5608882/sing-hallelujah-to-the-lord-protestors-hong-kong-extradition-anthem/ "undefined") of Hong Kongâs freedom movement, thousands of black-clad demonstrators began streaming into the forecourt of the legislature from early morning. They demanded the unconditional release of all protesters arrested to date and an investigation into the police handling of the demonstrations that have rocked the semi-autonomous enclave for the past 10 days.
Shortly after 11: 00 a.m., large crowds of protesters chanting âWithdraw \[the bill\]!â erected barricades on Harcourt Roadâa key thoroughfare in front of the government headquarters that was the center of the 2014 [Umbrella Revolution](https://time.com/3632739/hong-kong-umbrella-revolution-photos/ "undefined"). A banner hung across the road read âThis Is Hong Kong Not China.â
Urged by [recently freed](https://time.com/5608077/joshua-wong-hong-kong-protests-extradition/ "undefined") activist [Joshua Wong](https://time.com/tag/joshua-wong/ "undefined"), crowds then marched on police headquarters at Arsenal Street, just under a kilometer away. They began taunting police and chanting for the release of prisoners. Officers retreated behind metal gates as demonstrators encircled the building and dragged barriers across Hennessy Road and a part of Queensway, both vital arteries.
Protesters are furious with the police over what Amnesty International alleged in a [statement](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/0576/2019/en/ "undefined") Friday was âunlawful use of force by police against peaceful protestersâ on June 12, wounding scores. Amnesty claimed that the evidence against the Hong Kong police was âirrefutable.â
On Friday, agitated demonstrators plastered police headquarters with a sign reading âFight to the bitter endâ and photographs purported to be of people injured at the earlier demonstration. Barricades were erected across main entrances to prevent officers from leaving and small side doors were sealed with zip ties. Other used ladders to reach CCTV cameras installed along the buildingâs walls and covered them with duct tape.
Addressing the crowd through a microphone, Wong said â\[Police Commissioner\] Stephen Lo has to come down and face Hongkongers.â He told TIME at the scene: âItâs time for the police to apologize.â
In an emotional speech that followed, democratic lawmaker Hui Chi-fung addressed protesters saying: âWeâve never had so many people surround \[police\] HQ. So, all the police officers here, look around at all these angry young people, those who are telling the truth. I ask you to come out immediately to face them.â
Several protesters collapsed from heat exhaustion in the oppressive June temperatures, but in general the swelling crowd appeared set for a long blockade. Wilson Chan, 25, said he would stay through the night if necessary. âIf officers start firing tear gas or attacking in any way, Iâll stay behind to help others.â
A section of the crowd almost forced an entry into the building when a gate jammed, but police were able to close it after what one witness [described](https://twitter.com/KongTsungGan/status/1141957993229148160 "undefined") as a âdangerous situation.â
Protesters then threw up barricades on Gloucester Road, a major east-west highway, and staged sit-ins in the headquarters of Hong Kongâs taxation and immigration departments, barricading themselves in the latter. People were prevented from reaching the neighboring Wanchai Law Courts. Police were conspicuously absent.
âHong Kong people arenât protesters by nature. We enjoy having nice meals and playing computer games,â Michael, a 25-year-old protester and medical doctor told TIME. âIâd rather stay home and play computer games or listen to music, but we have no choice.â
Government workers were prevented from returning to their offices after lunch and were instead called on to join the protest. Civil servants already in the buildings began evacuating as protesters politely apologized for causing them inconvenience and held signs to guide them through the crowd. One protester held up a sign that read âI know this is hard for everyone. But weâll get through this together.â
In the late afternoon, government offices on Queenswayâhome to several departments from transport to legal aid, marriage registration, and architectural servicesâwere surrounded along with the cityâs High Court.
The Secretary for the Civil Service, Joshua Law, said that contingency plans were being put in place to enable civil servants to work elsewhere. Hong Kongâs Secretary for Justice, Teresa Cheng, meanwhile [apologized for the extradition bill](https://www.doj.gov.hk/eng/public/blog/20190621_blog1.html "undefined"), saying that the government had âlearned a hard lesson.â
Just after 12:00 noon, police Senior Superintendent Yolanda Yu called on the crowds to peacefully end their blockade of police headquarters. Law enforcement officers said that the siege was delaying responses to emergency calls. A initial police attempt to negotiate with protesters was [drowned out by angry chants](https://twitter.com/XScmp/status/1141925726599303168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1141925726599303168%7Ctwgr%5E393039363b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scmp.com%2Fnews%2Fhong-kong%2Fpolitics%2Farticle%2F3015463%2Fhong-kong-extradition-bill-protesters-occupy-road-leading "undefined") and abandoned. Around 5:30 p.m., live TV close-ups showed what appeared to be a tense parley between officers and protesters across a metal barricade, but the talks broke up.
âA long-term warâ
By nightfall, the crowd had doubled in size and the atmosphere worsened as protesters donned hard hats and goggles as if preparing for a pitched battle. They began pelting the building with eggs and other objects. Democratic legislators appeared on the scene and called for calm, fearing large scale injuries should the building be stormed.
Karmen, a 20-year-old student, said she did not think the government would withdraw the extradition bill, but nevertheless âeven when you know what the result will be, you still have to show up to show unity. You struggle to survive before you die.â
Student unions and other groups have been calling on Hongkongers to commit acts of [âcivil disobedienceâ](https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1463760-20190619.htm?spTabChangeable=0 "undefined") in a movement that has widened from a protest against a divisive law into a rebellion for greater political freedom. It has also become a deepening embarrassment for Beijing. Many protesters wave the Union Jack, or the colonial Hong Kong flag, as a repudiation of Chinese sovereignty. One protester on Friday carried a banner reading âReturn Hong Kong to Us.â
âThis is a long-term war and we need to be strategizing next steps,â said Jeff, a 24-year-old protester outside the legislature.
Writing Thursday in British newspaper the *Independent*, Wong and fellow campaigner Alex Chow suggested that the movementâs aims were no longer confined to Hong Kong.
âOur long-term hopes rely on whether we can pressurize the CCP \[Chinese Communist Party\] to devolve its power to the people and implement genuine electoral democracy at various administrative and community levels,â [they said](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/hong-kong-protests-joshua-wong-extradition-bill-democracy-umbrella-movement-a8967251.html "undefined"). âWe must remember that a democratic Hong Kong could lead to a more democratic China.â
Many in Taiwan likewise hope for a freer China and have been staging rallies in support of the Hong Kong demonstrations. As protesters gathered in Hong Kong Friday, a man with a microphone read aloud an anonymous message of support, sent from the island that Beijing regards as a renegade province: âPlease donât give up on what you are fighting to protect. You have awakened so many people who were asleep.â
On Friday, dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei [released a video](https://twitter.com/hoccgoomusic/status/1141976422275112960 "undefined") throwing his support behind the protesters and characterizing Hong Kongâs freedom struggle as being between âa disciplined and civilized worldâ and âan irrational society with no principles.â
âThe situation is now at a dead endâ
The latest protests follow days of unrest. On June 9, [huge numbers of people](https://time.com/5601156/hong-kong-extradition-law-protests/ "undefined")âmore than a million, according to organizersâmarched to protest the bill, which would, for the first time, have allowed the extradition of fugitives to mainland China. The government says the bill is necessary to prevent Hong Kong from becoming a haven for criminals, but critics fear that Beijing will use it to detain political opponents and silence its many detractors in the enclave.
On June 12, protests around the legislature [turned violent](https://time.com/5605154/hong-kong-extradition-strike-protests/ "undefined"), forcing the body, which is dominated by pro-Beijing lawmakers, to shelve a debate on the measure. More than 80 were injured in clashes with police, who used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear the streets.
Lam then announced that the legislation would be [postponed](https://time.com/5607678/hong-kong-extradition-bill-suspended/ "undefined"), but this did not pacify Hongkongers, who turned out in [even greater numbers](https://time.com/5607046/hong-kong-protest-extradition/ "undefined") on June 16 to call for the billâs complete withdrawal and Lamâs ouster. The march, which organizers claim was two million strong, saw the young and the elderly, political activists and business figures, religious groups and families, all take to the streets in an unprecedented show of unity.
The marches forced [a public apology](https://time.com/5608881/hong-kong-carrie-lam-apology/ "undefined") from Lam for the extradition debacle, but it was criticized for being belated and insufficient. Protesters are now expected to step up their actions in the run up to the July 1 anniversary of the cityâs return to Chinese sovereignty. A protest has also been called for June 26. One woman told TIME Friday that demonstrators needed to be âless passive and reliant on waiting for the governmentâs move.â
Lawmaker Claudia Mo did not hold out hope for a negotiated solution. âThe situation is now at a dead end,â she [told](https://twitter.com/HongKongFP/status/1142005604216537088 "undefined") local media. âCarrie Lam said she has apologized, but she is the one who caused this situation, and she must face it.â
Speaking earlier in an exclusive [interview](https://time.com/5608178/10-questions-hong-kong-democracy-joshua-wong/ "undefined") with TIME, Wong said the battle was far from over. âThe Hong Kong government and Beijing have turned a whole generation of students from citizens to dissidents,â he said. âI think President Xi might be really angry at how Carrie Lam generated more than a million dissidents that live in and love this place.â
â*With reporting by Laignee Barron, Amy Gunia, Abhishyant Kidangoor, Hillary Leung and Feliz Solomon / Hong Kong* |
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