Pro-Hong Kong rally in Melbourne turns violent as rival protesters clash


A pro-Hong Kong rally in Melbourne's CBD turned violent on Friday evening as protesters clashed with nationalist Chinese demonstrators.

The rally began at 7pm outside the State Library in Swanston Street and the numbers swelled until there were more than 1000 people, at least half of whom appeared to be pro-China protesters.

Rival protesters clash outside Melbourne's State Library.

Rival protesters clash outside Melbourne's State Library.Credit:Justin McManus

The demonstration began with an acknowledgement of the Wurundjeri ancestral owners, but before the pro-Hong Kong organiser could get through the first line a cheer broke out at the perimeter and a Chinese flag was held above the crowd.

This set off a series of scuffles, mostly pushing and shoving, at the southern side of the library lawn.


Amongst the chaos, an ABC cameraman was pushed by a man who then appeared to attack his gear.

A woman, Camie, 30, was violently shoved by pro-Chinese demonstrator, who subsequently had his hair pulled by protesters on the other side and was forced back into his group.

Camie, who was stunned but otherwise unhurt, said she was protesting in solidarity for the people of her home city.

"I'm from Hong Kong. It started (the rallies) because of the extradition bill but now we don't have democracy. We have come to save our city," she said.

Police appeared to be caught unaware by the scale of the protest and only intervened when pro-Chinese demonstrators surged towards the pro-Hong Kong side. By this time, scuffles had been breaking out for about 40 minutes.

Pro-Hong Kong protesters returned to the State Library on Saturday morning and pledged to carry out a 'peaceful demonstration', Nine News reports.

A number of pro-China demonstrators at a pro-Hong rally at Melbourne State Library.

A number of pro-China demonstrators at a pro-Hong rally at Melbourne State Library.Credit:Justin McManus

Police, having been reinforced, eventually formed a solid barrier and members of each group retreated to their respective sides. This shut down flare-ups of aggression, save for a small fight near the La Trobe St intersection.

Police moved in quickly and took one man away.

The number of pro-Chinese protesters surged throughout the evening and eventually outnumbered, and out-voiced, the pro-Hong Kong side.

By 9pm, several hundred protesters, mostly supporting China, had also gathered on the west side of Swanston St.

On the library side, they sang their national anthem, chanted in Mandarin and English for “one China” and let the protesters know they were “rubbish” and that “China is great”.

They were reluctant to give names or speak on the record, however one said he was there because “I’m from China and Hong Kong is part of China. One China.”

Under the gaze of the statue of Sir Redmond Barry, Hong Kong protesters gathered on the north side of the library lawn, singing and chanting “free Hong Kong”.

A pro-China demonstrator yelled out “if you don’t like it, leave the country.”

Another yelled back “we’re in Australia."

After more than two hours of tension, many of the Hong Kong protesters started to leave, but pro-China protesters remained in large numbers, chanting.

By 9.30, police had begun pushing the groups further apart until most began to disperse.

In a statement, Victoria Police said that two men had been interviewed in relation to unlawful assault and were released pending summons.

The statement went on to say: "We respect the right of the community to express their views peacefully and lawfully but will not tolerate those who break the law or engage in antisocial or violent behaviour".

There were no injuries reported.

The Melbourne protest follows a number of clashes at other pro-Hong Kong rallies in other Australian capital cities on Friday.

In Sydney, around a thousand protesters wearing face masks sat in Sydney's Martin Place in "a silent assembly" to show solidarity with Hong Kong.

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