Hong Kong protesters storm legislature as thousands rally to mark handover to China

HONG KONG: Hong Kong protesters stormed the Legislative Council on the anniversary of the city’s 1997 return to Chinese rule on Monday amid widespread anger over planned laws that would allow extraditions to China, plunging the city deeper into chaos.

A small group, mostly students wearing hard hats and masks, used a metal trolley, poles and pieces of scaffolding to hack through the reinforced glass and charge at the government compound near the heart of the financial center.

Riot police in helmets and carrying batons fired pepper spray in response in a standoff that was lasting into the sweltering heat of the evening.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam suspended the bill on June 15 after some of the largest and most violent protests in decades but stopped short of protesters’ demands to scrap it.

The Beijing-backed leader is now clinging on to her job at a time of an unprecedented backlash against the government and a series of mass protests that pose the greatest popular challenge to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.

“In the past few years, people have been getting more active, because they found the peaceful way is not working,” said a 24-year-old protester surnamed Chen.

Opponents of the bill, which would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party, fear it is a threat to Hong Kong’s much-cherished rule of law and are demanding it be scrapped and Lam step down.

Hong Kong returned to China under a “one country, two systems” formula that allows freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, including the freedom to protest and an independent judiciary.

Beijing denies interfering but, for many Hong Kong residents, the extradition bill is the latest step in a relentless march toward mainland control.

China has been angered by criticism from Western capitals, including Washington and London, about the legislation.

Beijing said on Monday that Britain had no responsibility for Hong Kong any more and was opposed to its “gesticulating” about the territory.