Hong Kong leader pledges stiffer measures after violent day

Hong Kong leader pledges stiffer measures after violent day

Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to “spare no effort” in bringing an end to anti-government protests that have hit the city for more than five months, following a day of violence in which one person was shot and another set on fire.

Carrie Lam’s comments are likely to fuel speculation that harsher legal and police measures may be in the works to curb the protests.

“I do not want to go into details, but I just want to make it very clear that we will spare no effort in finding ways and means that could end the violence in Hong Kong as soon as possible,” Ms Lam said.

She also refused to accept the protesters’ demands for political concessions.

Carrie Lam
Carrie Lam refused to accept the protesters’ demands for political concessions (Dita Alangkara/AP)

Monday’s violence is likely to further inflame passions in Hong Kong after a student who fell during an earlier protest succumbed to his injuries on Friday and police arrested six pro-democracy politicians over the weekend on charges of obstructing the local assembly during a raucous May 11 meeting. All were freed on bail.

China’s ruling Communist Party has also indicated it may try to find a way to enact anti-subversion laws in the territory, after such measures were shelved previously due to public opposition.

While Beijing has dismissed reports it may replace Ms Lam next year, the party last week issued a statement saying it would “perfect” the system to appoint and dismiss Hong Kong’s leader and top officials.

As the two struggle, another protester in black approaches, at whom the officer points his gun. He then fires at the stomach area of the second protester, who falls to the ground. The officer appeared to fire again as a third protester in black joined the tussle.

The protester in white manages to flee, bounding up a nearby stairway, and the officer and a colleague pin the two in black to the ground.

Police said that only one protester was hit and that he was undergoing surgery. A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong hospital authority said the person was in a critical condition.

Hong Kong Protests
Protesters with umbrellas and bottles of water to douse tear gas canisters during a confrontation with police (Vincent Yu/AP)

Police fired tear gas and deployed a water cannon in various parts of the city on Monday and charged onto the campus of Chinese University, where students were protesting. Video posted online also showed a police officer on a motorcycle riding through a group of protesters in an apparent attempt to disperse them.

A police spokesman said the shooting, burning and motorcycle incidents were all under investigation, but defended the officers’ actions as necessary to safeguard their own safety. He said two people were arrested in the shooting incident, including the person shot, but no one has yet been detained over the burning.

Protesters built barricades and blocked roads at about 120 locations across the city of 7.4 million and demonstrations were still ongoing, he said.

The protests began over a proposed extradition law and have expanded to include demands for greater democracy and police accountability. Activists say Hong Kong’s autonomy and Western-style civil liberties, promised when the former British colony was returned to China in 1997, are eroding.

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