Mantai Chow

Hong Kong marked the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown amid a police ban on the annual Victoria Park vigil because of Covid-19 social distancing restrictions. Thousands defied the ban and gathered in the park anyway. Elsewhere in the city, people gathered to light candles and held a moment of silence to commemorate those who died in the crackdown on June 4, 1989. 

Felicity Feng, a Canadian visiting her parents in Wuhan over the Lunar New Year holiday, was caught up in the deadly coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown. Feng said her father was one of the project managers overseeing the construction of a new hospital for coronavirus patients.  Feng said she is worried about her father’s situation but is also glad that her family can contribute to the fight against the disease. 

Hundreds of anti-government protesters gathered on Tuesday night a month since the introduction of a mask ban in Hong Kong, marching through the tourist hotspot of Tsim Sha Tsui. Police deployed a water cannon to disperse the crowd. Many demonstrators wore the smiling masks made famous by the 2005 dystopian film V for Vendetta. The masks commemorate Guy Fawkes, a British figure whose failed bid to blow up parliament in 1605 is remembered in the UK every year on November 5. In recent years, the masks have become a familiar sight at protests around the world.

Thousands of Hong Kong protesters – some waving American flags – filled Hong Kong streets on Monday night to ask the US government and President Trump for help. They urged the US Congress to pass a bill that would sanction and penalize Beijing and Hong Kong officials deemed to have suppressed “basic freedoms” in the city.

Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Hong Kong over the weekend. Many wearing masks, they defied a new anti-mask law introduced by the city’s leader, who invoked emergency powers as demonstrations grew increasingly violent.

Downtown Hong Kong descended into chaos on Sunday as anti-government demonstrations entered their 17th straight week. Violent clashes took place two days before the People’s Republic of China marks 70 years since its founding. More protests are expected before and during the anniversary.

Hong Kong soccer fans decided to show their support for protesters at a recent World Cup qualifying match between Hong Kong and Iran. Before the match started, Hong Kong fans booed the Chinese national anthem. Fans also sang a new anthem of the Hong Kong protests, “Glory to Hong Kong,” during the match, as unrest in the city entered its 14th week.

Hong Kong has been rocked by more than 13 weeks of protests, which have increasingly led to clashes between police and protesters. On the front line of these confrontations are mostly young people, many of them students or fresh out of school. Without a clear leadership in the movement, the demonstrators are figuring out their own ways to make their voices heard.

For the first time in 12 weekends of anti-government protests in Hong Kong, a police officer fired a warning shot during clashes with demonstrators on Sunday. Earlier in the day, police also deployed water cannons for the first time, threatening to use them in order to disperse hundreds of protesters who had occupied a road following a march.

Hundreds have rallied at a tourist hotspot in Hong Kong to demand the release of a student arrested for carrying laser pointers. Keith Fong, president of Hong Kong Baptist University’s student union, was arrested Monday on suspicion of possessing “offensive weapons.” The university's faculty, students and alumni of the university held rallies to condemn the police for spreading “white terror” and demanded Fong’s release. Laser pointers have been commonly seen in anti-government protests in Hong Kong, apparently to confuse police officers or deter bystanders from taking photographs that could help to identify protesters.