Tensions are soaring in Hong Kong after the new proposal was unveiled in Beijing last week
HONG KONG — Hong Kong police fired pepper pellets to disperse protesters in the heart of the global financial centre on Wednesday and arrested about 240 people as national security legislation proposed by Beijing revived anti-government demonstrations.
“Although you’re afraid inside your heart, you need to speak out,” said Chang, 29, a clerk and protester dressed in black with a helmet respirator and goggles in her backpack. The proposal, unveiled in Beijing last week, triggered the first big street unrest in Hong Kong in months on Sunday, with police firing tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters.The United States, Australia, Britain, Canada and others have expressed concern about the legislation, widely seen as a possible turning point for China’s freest city and one of the world’s main financial hubs.
One protester was seen with a placard reading “one country, two systems is a lie,” referring to a political system put in place at Britain’s 1997 handover of the city to China, which is meant to guarantee Hong Kong’s freedoms until at least 2047. Police, acting much more quickly than before to nip protests in the bud, said they had arrested about 240 people in three districts, most for illegal assembly.
SHARES SLIDETaiwan President Tsai Ing-wen pledged humanitarian relief for any Hong Kong people fleeing to the self-ruled island while Japan said it was “strongly concerned” about the situation.
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