Coronavirus: testing Covid-19 restrictions, protesters gather in the heart of Hong Kong
- Nearly 100 people – giving each other a wide berth – shout slogans and voice support for opposition figures arrested last week
- Demonstrations had petered out over the previous month, because of social-distancing measures intended to curb the pandemic
Nearly 100 protesters returned to an upscale shopping mall in the heart of Hong Kong’s financial district on Friday, testing coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings to show support for recently arrested opposition figures.
“Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times,” the crowd chanted, while gathering sparsely across different floors of the atrium of the IFC Mall in Central. Protesters had eschewed gatherings over the previous month, because of social-distancing measures put in place by the government to battle the spread of Covid-19.
Friday’s action was in support of prominent lawyers, activists and legislators arrested last week over anti-government unrest last year, and to rail against recent criticism of pan-democrat legislators by two central government bodies overseeing the city.
A social worker, who gave her name as Jessica, said she felt Beijing’s grip on the city, which is guaranteed a high degree of autonomy under the “one country, two systems” principle, was getting tighter.
She also said she wanted to show how “the government was using the pandemic as an excuse to stem freedom of expression”. Under the social-distancing rules, officials have banned gatherings of more than four people.