Chinese military issues warning to Hong Kong protesters amid clashes as tens of thousands defy face mask ban

Thousands came out for the unsanctioned rallies, with tensions only rising after four months of mass protests
Thousands came out for the unsanctioned rallies, with tensions only rising after four months of mass protests Credit: Laurel Chor/Getty Images

The Chinese military issued an unprecedented warning amid another night of chaos and violence in Hong Kong on Sunday, as masked protesters risked tear gas and arrest to march in defiance of an emergency ban on face coverings.

As the initially peaceful mass protest on Hong Kong island and in Kowloon spiralled into violent clashes with riot police, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army warned protesters they could be arrested for targeting its barracks with laser lights.

The warning, the first of its kind during four months of escalating unrest in the global financial hub, was displayed on a yellow flag as hundreds of demonstrators shone laser pens at troops in fatigues. The soldiers responded with spotlights as they filmed the scene.

The nearby Kowloon Tong metro station was trashed, its windows smashed into tiny pieces. The entire mass transit rail system, which has been targeted by protesters who believe it has colluded with the government and police against them, was suspended on Sunday evening.

Wildcat protests sprang up and disappeared quickly around the city as bands of protesters played a game of cat and mouse with the riot police.

The most radical among them threw Molotov cocktails at advancing officers, who responded with tear gas and arrests. A journalist was struck on the head, briefly setting his helmet on fire.

An emergency law has criminalised protesters wearing face masks Credit: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images

In one isolated moment of brutality, a taxi driver was badly beaten by protesters after he drove into them. It is not clear what sparked the incident.

The day had started out peacefully as tens of thousands of protesters - including families with children and elderly people - attended two large unsanctioned rallies. It was a sign of the widespread public anger at a move by Carrie Lam, the city's chief executive, to use a sweeping Emergency Regulations Ordinance to enforce a face mask ban that many believe impairs their freedoms.

“We are suppressed by the strong government. They suppress us through a law to threaten the people to stay at home. That’s why we have to come out to voice our opinions,” said a woman called Mrs Mak, as she sheltered under her husband’s umbrella.

“I have to come out to fight for the youngsters, because I am nearly 60. I come out because I have to support them. The future belongs to them. I want the government to hear what people are saying,” she said.

The crowd was visibly nervous, at times stopping and running backwards, after months of angry confrontations between police and protesters that have resulted in over 2,000 arrests, two live shootings and the firing over more than 4,000 tear gas canisters.

Some protesters lit fires to block traffic in the city centre Credit: Vincent Thian/AP

By mid-afternoon the police had launched tear gas at protesters erecting barricades along major routes, before pushing demonstrators back and making multiple arrests in the shopping district of Causeway Bay.

Ms Lam had justified the ban as necessary to end the turmoil that began with a controversial mainland extradition bill but has since spiralled into a wider call for democratic rights.

However, many in Hong Kong believe the move has only fuelled mounting public anger.

On Sunday morning a group of pro-democracy lawmakers failed in a high court bid to seek an emergency injunction against the ban, arguing that emergency powers bypassed the legislature and contravened the city’s mini-constitution.

Sharron Fast, a law expert at the University of Hong Kong, warned that the use of the emergency regulation had given the chief executive an “unlimited amount of power, in which she alone can enact laws”. She added that Ms Lam could use it to enact more draconian measures including censorship laws.

Protesters who marched in torrential rain voiced their anger that the mask ban would not also be applied to the police. Demonstrators have included an independent investigation into police brutality as one of their key demands.

Ms Fast said that granting that demand could help to calm the situation. “I think it is still not too little too late. It would take some time, but it would have a pacifying effect.”