Video Shows Hong Kong Protesters Being Led Away in Handcuffs by Police

Nick Kangadis | May 28, 2020
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It looks as if tensions are building in Hong Kong days after the communist Chinese government in Beijing announced new security laws that would essentially "crush dissent."

Video has surfaced that shows "dozens" of Hong Kong protesters being led away in handcuffs on Wednesday. Washington Post Southeast Asia and Hong Kong bureau chief Shibani Mahtani posted video of the procession on Twitter.

It's not clear whether there were any actual "kids" being arrested as Mahtani stated in her tweet.

Mahtani's video came on the same day as a report of protesters being arrested by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), which is the same outlet who had a World Health Organization (WHO) senior adviser end an interview because their reporter asked autonomously about Taiwan's COVID reponse. The outlet reported on Wednesday that police said they "arrested more than 360 people on suspicion of illegal assembly."

The protest supposedly took place ahead of an afternoon meeting among lawmakers to discuss the criminalization of insults toward the national anthem.

According to RTHK:

Officers confronted protesters and stopped suspected demonstrators in various parts of the city from lunchtime onwards.

Pepper balls were fired at a crowd of protesters in Central, schoolgirls were searched in Mong Kok, and a large number of people were held by officers in Causeway Bay before being taken in coaches.

Police said around 180 arrests were made in Central and Causeway Bay, 60 in Mong Kok and 50 in Admiralty.

Also on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Hong Kong is no longer deemed autonomous from China.

"After careful study of developments over the reporting period, I certified to Congress today that Hong Kong does not continue to warrant treatment under United States laws in the same manner as U.S. laws were applied to Hong Kong before July 1997," Pompeo said in a statement. "No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground."

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