Though Chinese President Xi appears to have successfully deflected attention away from Hong Kong with his trip to North Korea and sudden detente with Washington, protesters have continued to take to the streets this week to demand the resignation of Carrie Lam, the city executive who was responsible for 'fast tracking' the extradition bill that would have made Hong Kongers and those just passing through vulnerable to punishment in Communist Party-controlled courts.
Early on Saturday, the final few hundred demonstrators who had kept the main police station under siege for hours finally dispersed as police moved in to break up the demonstration.
According to the AP, police had cleared the streets of barriers set up by protesters to block traffic in the Asian financial center, and only a few groups in the mostly youthful crowd remained. Some slept outside the legislature.
Around police headquarters, masked and helmeted protesters, clad in black, covered surveillance cameras, barricaded roads, and threw eggs at the building and sprayed graffiti on the building. Perhaps most annoyingly, protesters shined laser pointers into the eyes of officers.
Last Sunday, up to 2 million Hong Kongers, more than one-quarter of the city's population, took to the streets for the largest anti-extradition bill demonstration yet. That took place a day after Lam "indefinitely" withdrew the bill from debate, making it extremely likely that the legislation would die at the end of the term.
However, for thousands of individuals who fear Beijing's encroachment, simply pulling the bill from debate isn't enough. Many now want Lam - who retains the support of Communist Party leaders in Beijing - to step aside, to officially abandon the bill instead of waiting until the end of the legislative session for it to die a natural death, and they also want the police to release everybody who has been arrested during the demonstrations. One particularly aggressive event, which took place the Wednesday before last, saw student protesters clashing with police. Authorities have described it as a "riot-like" situation.
For the rally Friday night, an estimated 50,000 showed up at the peak, according to Bloomberg. By the time it was dispersed, at around 3 am local time, only a few remained.
In a statement, police said they had shown "the greatest tolerance" for the protesters, but criticized the crowds for using "illegal, irrational and unreasonable" methods.
"Police have shown the greatest tolerance to the protesters who assembled outside PHQ, but their means of expressing views have become illegal, irrational and unreasonable," according to the statement. "Police will stringently follow up on these illegal activities."
More than two weeks after the demonstrations began, and more than one week after Lam tried to capitulate by withdrawing the extradition bill, the catalyst for the demonstrations, people are still marching in the streets for Hong Kong.
To distract from this, things will either need to go really well in Osaka next week, or really poorly.
