With pro-democracy protests intensifying
in Hong Kong, thousands of protesters refused to abide by a police ban on
rallying today. The move comes a day after the arrests of many leading
activists and lawmakers in a police crackdown.
According to reports, police banned a planned rally due to
security reasons following last weekend’s violent clashes.
Security had been tightened near Liason Office, the
department that represents China’s central government. The police readied water
cannon on the streets as precautionary measures.
Within a period of 24 hours, activists such as Joshua Wong
and Agnes Chow of the Demosisto Party and Independence campaigner Andy Chan had
been arrested while Lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai of the Civic Passion party was
also detained due to the ongoing protests.
It may be noted that till now 900 people have been arrested since the outbreak of the protests in June. The protests erupted after Hong Kong government tried to pass a bill allowing extraditions to mainland China.