No plans to close stock market or impose caps on cash withdrawals as Hong Kong government denies emergency law rumours
- Rumours were spread online that the government planned to suspend stock market trading on Tuesday and Wednesday
- HKMA also said rumours to restrict daily cash withdrawals from banks were unfounded
The Hong Kong government has said there are no plans to suspend stock market trading or impose restrictions on cash withdrawals from banks, quelling rumours circulating on social media that emergency law would be invoked amid escalating violence.
“The public should not believe in such kind of rumours as they may create unnecessary chaos or panic,” the government said in a Chinese-language statement on its website on Monday afternoon.
The rumours, circulating widely on Monday via online platforms like WhatsApp, said there were plans to stop trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday and Wednesday, while all offices and schools would also be closed because of the social unrest.
The rumour gathered momentum after a police officer shot a protester as clashes erupted between protesters and police across the city.
The unrest follows the death last Friday of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology student Chow Tsz-lok, days after he fell in a car park near a police dispersal operation in Tseung Kwan O, where tear gas had been fired.