Hong Kong holds first ‘authorised’ protest in years amid strict police checks

Hong Kong residents held their first “authorised” protest in years under strict police watch on Sunday.

Several demonstrators marched in one of the first protests since 2020 in Hong Kong — when the national security law was introduced — but were required to wear numbered lanyards and barred from wearing face masks by police.

The protests were against a proposed land reclamation and a garbage processing project.

The protest took place in the eastern district of Tseung Kwan O, where the project is slated to be built.

At least 100 demonstrators braved the rain and were seen holding placards against the slated project with a heavy presence of police personnel around.

Critics have slammed the strict monitoring of the small protest with reports saying that Hong Kong authorities sent a seven-page letter of instructions to the organisers before the protests.

“We need to have a more free-spirited protest culture,” James Ockenden, 49, who was marching with his three children told Reuters.

“But this is all pre-arranged and numbered and it just destroys the culture and will put people off from coming for sure.”

Earlier this month, the Hong Kong Women Workers’ Association announced that it had received verbal approval for a “notice of no objection” regarding their march on International Women’s Day but it was later cancelled.

“A first authorised protest since the emergence of Covid-19 three years ago is a significant moment for Hong Kong, but Sunday’s planned march will take place as the government intensifies its wider crackdown on human rights in the city,” Hana Young, Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director said at the time.

However, the march was cancelled. According to Radio Free Asia, police had threatened key social activists with arrest if they participated in the march.

Meanwhile, the police had granted the organisers a “no objection letter” for the protest on Sunday on the condition they ensure it would not violate national security laws, including seditious displays or speech.

“Some lawbreakers may mix into the public meeting and procession to disrupt public order or even engage in illegal violence,” the police warned in their letter.

Organisers said up to 50 people took part in the first protest to be authorised by the city’s police for several years.

So far, applications for other protests, including a candlelight vigil on 4 June to commemorate the victims of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, have been denied on grounds related to Covid social distancing.

With additional reporting from agencies...