Hong Kong protesters throw Chinese flag into iconic harbour, call for mass strike on Monday
Meanwhile, thousands of people, mostly in white, gathered for a separate rally in Victoria Park in support of the police on Saturday. The crowd shouted slogans and waved Chinese and Hong Kong flags.
With yellow and white hard hats on, a sea of people, mostly clad in black, chanted “age of revolution!”, “Hongkongers ass oil!”. This is how the activists kicked off anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok on Saturday marking another weekend of protest against a proposed bill allowing people to be extradited to undergo trial in mainland China. With civil servants joining the protests despite warning from the administration, the protesters have called for a mass strike on Monday.
Besides, protesters removed a Chinese national flag from its pole and flung it into the city’s iconic Victoria Harbour on Saturday after a pro-democracy rally once again continued into the evening despite police warnings to stick to a short, pre-approved route.
Anti-government movement
The Hong Kong protesters defied police warnings and went past the designated endpoint for the Saturday’s rally in Mong Kok. Shopowners pulled their shutters down in anticipation of prolonged demonstration. The protests, which commenced in June, have escalated every weekend with the protestors accusing police of applying excessive force and failing to protect the demonstrators from suspected mob attacks.
According to Reuters, the crowd was mostly young, with the exceptions of some joined by families and a few senior citizens. They all stood in solidarity with the protesters who have been calling for greater rights and government accountability over the past two months. “We are here because we want to stick up for Hong Kong. We don’t need an evil law to take over Hong Kong,” Reuters reported a woman as saying. Ignoring warning from the authorities to stay politically neutral, thousands of civil servants had joined the protests on Friday.