Hong Kong protesters rotate tactics between radical and restrained, keeping city guessing
- Police fired gunshot and deploy one of the force’s water cannons – both were firsts after months of protest
- Many wonder which protest movement – the restrained or the radical – will show up at big march planned for Saturday
The return of violence to the streets of Hong Kong has analysts observing the protest movement’s rotation of violence and peaceful tactics and suggesting that the government just missed its best chance yet to start a dialogue with the demonstrators.
In more ugly scenes of violence, all hopes were dashed that the movement would remain peaceful after eight days without tear gas. As analysts observed, the day’s unrest proved that violence is becoming all-too-common – and peace, it seems, an aberration. Now, many are wondering which protest movement – the restrained or the radical – would show up at the next big march planned for Saturday.
“The government has to understand that it is difficult to separate the peaceful protesters and establish a dialogue with them,” said Edmund Cheng Wai, a political scientist at Baptist University. “It was not proactive enough given the rare peaceful weekend after August 18.”
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“Radical protesters and peaceful, rational and non-violent protesters are two sides of the same coin in this movement,” Cheng said. “The rotation of these two tactics has been evident for months.”
After the peaceful August 18 rally, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor did not respond directly to the protesters’ five demands, including a complete withdrawal of the bill and setting up an independent investigation into alleged police brutality.
He said the protesters were using specific tactics for different protests, with marches held by the Civil Human Rights Front drawing peaceful protesters while the district marches were generally allowed to descend into violence.
Ma predicted that public opinion would become increasingly polarised between the peaceful and radical camps of the protesters, especially with pro-establishment lawmakers reminding the public about the escalation of violence.
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“As long as the peaceful protesters fail to achieve their demands, there is support for radical actions. This is the conclusion of scholars around the world,” Tai said.
Tai gave a rare sympathetic nod to the police, describing the force as sandwiched between the city’s leaders and the public and under enormous pressure. He said he would not call the police “black cops” as many protesters do.
It will not be a long wait to see which tactic the protesters use next. The front has planned a march on Saturday from Central to Beijing’s liaison office in Sai Ying Pun.
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Bonnie Leung Wing-man, the front’s deputy convenor, said the police should not use what happened on Sunday as an excuse to ban their march. She said the firing of a gunshot – as a warning – was proof that the police had lost control more than the protesters.
Leung said she would not condemn the protesters actions on Sunday, but would ask them to exercise restraint going forward.
“I’m just worried and I don’t want anyone to be injured. When the world sees clashes in Hong Kong, people wonder whether such actions were necessary,” she said.
Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, chair of the New People’s Party and an executive councillor, said the government would have acted if it found it acceptable to back down. She instead called on Lam to better explain why the government could not respond to the five demands.
Additional reporting by Tony Cheung