As Hong Kong police crack down on scattered protesters on National Day, ordinary residents fume over heavy security blanket
- Force keeps small crowds of activists under control, making dozens of arrests, but extensive roadblocks and ID checks prove frustrating for many
- One mother out shopping with daughter doesn’t know where to find her after police took the woman away in a van
Roadblocks and frequent ID checks proved frustrating to people who said they simply wanted to use Thursday’s public holiday, which coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, to go shopping or join family for a meal.
A precise count of demonstrators was impossible due to their scattered appearance, but the total was estimated to be in the hundreds, far short of the tens of thousands who fanned out across the city in the previous year, when violence flared long into the night.
While small demonstrations took place in Mong Kok and Tsuen Wan, the biggest turnout emerged in the retail heart of Causeway Bay.
A woman in her 60s said she and her daughter, with a friend in tow, were out browsing stores when they became caught in a cordoned-off area on Paterson Street. The mother said officers allowed her to leave but detained her 38-year-old daughter and the friend, who were put on a police bus.