As the protests in Hong Kong entered their 13th weekend, police deployed a new tactic to help identify people to arrest. Authorities packed giant crowd-controlling water cannons with a deep blue dye in an effort to mark protesters for later arrest.
Beginning as a peaceful assembly to reject legislation that would allow Hong Kongers to be extradited to mainland China, protests in the streets of Hong Kong have evolved to include many more grievances against the communist government. Protests have attracted students, lawyers, reporters, and many other citizens of Hong Kong to demand that leader Carrie Lam destroy the bills that could take away fair trials from the people of Hong Kong.
While Hong Kong has operated under the “one government, two systems policy” since the United Kingdom returned control of the region to China in 1997, pro-democracy protesters have feared that the communist nation would begin to shred the democracy that they cherish.
As weeks of protests continued, officials in China and Carrie Lam refused to comply with the demand to permanently jettison the bills that would allow Beijing to try citizens of Hong Kong in mainland China. Police have become increasingly aggressive as protesters further stood their ground.
A planned march to mark the five-year anniversary of a failed electoral reform measure on Saturday was banned by police, essentially meaning that participants would be in violation of the law and subject to forceful measures. The loss of the electoral bill marked a backslide in freedom for many Hong Kongers.
“Telling us not to protest is like telling us not to breathe,” one 22-year-old student said. “I feel it’s my duty to fight for democracy. Maybe we win, maybe we lose, but we fight.”
Police launched tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons at the gathered protesters. The crowd responded by hurling bricks and Molotov cocktails back at the police. Hong Kong officials stood their ground on Saturday and said that they would not be reopening negotiations to increase democracy in the region.
Water cannon spraying blue dye at the crowds pic.twitter.com/Ji8IPxonJo
— Antony Dapiran (@antd) August 31, 2019
