Anger as top Chinese official visits Hong Kong

Last edited Tue May 24, 2016, 02:55 PM - Edit history (1)

Demosisto Chairman Nathan Law, who advocates democratic self-determination and autonomy for Hong Kong, is subdued by police officers yesterday after trying to cross into a security area where Chinese Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Chairman Zhang Dejiang is residing during his stay in the territory.


One of China’s most powerful officials said he would listen to political demands from Hong Kongers in a conciliatory start to a visit yesterday that has stirred anger in a territory resentful of Beijing’s tightening grip.

The three-day trip by Chinese Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Chairman Zhang Dejiang is the first by such a senior official in four years and comes as concerns grow in semi-autonomous Hong Kong that its long-cherished freedoms are under threat.

While Zhang is ostensibly visiting to speak at an economic conference today, the trip is widely seen as a bid to take the temperature in an increasingly divided territory with a fledgling independence movement.

It has infuriated opponents, critical of a massive security operation that includes barricading protesters into designated areas out of Zhang’s sight.

Police last night shoved back protesters gathered near the residence of the territory’s leader where Zhang was having dinner. Seven members of a pro-democracy political party were arrested earlier in the day after putting up protest banners, with three still detained, and a leading pro-democracy activist was also wrestled to the ground by police outside Zhang’s hotel.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2016/05/18/2003646516