Hong Kong extradition bill protesters besiege police headquarters into Friday night after day of mobile rallies

Police maintain hands-off approach all day – while government officials are nowhere to be seen

Protesters back in streets to demand extradition bill be scrapped and charges against those arrested in clashes be dropped

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Thousands of protesters surround police headquarters late into Friday night. Photos: Edmond So

Published: 11:16pm, 21 Jun 2019Updated: 3:14am, 22 Jun 2019

Thousands of mostly young protesters took over Hong Kong’s main roads on Friday in an unprecedented protest against the now-suspended extradition bill, besieging police headquarters and government buildings by using tactics adapted from legendary martial artist Bruce Lee’s “be water” philosophy.

Demanding the complete withdrawal of the bill and exoneration of protesters arrested during previous clashes, they trapped police inside their Wan Chai headquarters for the entire day and into the night, pelting the building with eggs while officers retreated inside and made no attempt to disperse them.

They began in the morning by spilling out into Harcourt Road at the city’s administrative and legislative centre, which was closed for the day because of security concerns, then moved on to Gloucester Road and Arsenal Street to trap police in their offices and besiege civil servants in Revenue Tower and Immigration Tower in the afternoon.

Splinter groups spread over to the Queensway Government Offices, but upon finding the compound closed for business, they regrouped with the main body of protesters to continue the siege of police headquarters into the night.

Using an effective combination of text messaging and word of mouth on the ground to communicate and mobilise, they kept their actions peaceful, their strategy based on Bruce Lee’s famous quote about adaptability: “Water can flow or it can crash; be water, my friend.”