A huge crowd gathered in Hong Kong Wednesday for an annual New Year's Day protest march as the monthslong pro-democracy movement extends into 2020.
Authorities said the assembly was mostly orderly, but that five people were arrested for criminal damage on suspicion of vandalizing the glass door and automated teller machine at a bank along the march route. Banks and businesses identified with mainland China have been frequent targets of hardcore protesters.
March participants were asked to "disperse soon after it ends and not to take part in any illegal or violent acts that may occur." Hong Kong toned down its New Year's celebrations amid the protests that began in June and which have dealt severe blows to the city's retail, tourism and nightlife sectors.
Such marches have often devolved at their conclusion into violence between hardcore, black-clad protesters and police. Both sides have been accused of provoking clashes, and nearly 6,500 protesters as young as 12 have been arrested in scores of incidents on streets, in shopping malls and on college campuses.
The protests began in June over proposed legislation that could have allowed residents to be extradited to China where they could face possible torture and unfair trials. The legislation was withdrawn, but not before the protests expanded to wider calls for reforms in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
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