© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A general view of buildings from the skyline, in Hong Kong, China July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
By Jessie Pang
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong police on Sunday allowed a small protest march under tight restrictions in one of the first demonstrations to be approved since the enactment of a sweeping national security law in 2020.
Several dozen protesters had to wear numbered lanyards and were banned from wearing masks, as police monitored their march against a land reclamation and garbage treatment project.
Participants chanted slogans against the rehabilitation project as they marched in the rain with banners in the eastern district of Tseung Kwan O, where the project is expected to be built.
Some also criticized restrictions on their protest, which included a maximum of 100 participants, according to a seven-page police letter to organizers seen by Reuters.
“We need to have a freer culture of protest,” said James Ockenden, 49, who marched with his three children.
“But it’s all pre-arranged and numbered and it just destroys the culture and will put people off coming for sure.”
Responding to the protest, the city’s Development Office said the project was aimed at “supporting the daily needs of the community”.
He said he would “respect the right to freedom of expression” and explore the possibility of reducing the scale of the polderization.
Police granted organizers a “no objection” letter on the condition that they ensure the protest would not violate national security laws, including protests or riotous speech.
“Some offenders may mix with the public meeting and motorcade to disturb public order or even engage in unlawful violence,” police warned in their letter.
According to organizers, up to 50 people took part in the first demonstration authorized by the city’s police in several years. They then told the media that around 80 people had joined Sunday’s protest.
Requests for other events, including a candlelight vigil on June 4 to commemorate the victims of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, have been denied on grounds related to COVID social distancing.
The last of Hong Kong’s COVID restrictions was lifted this year, following China’s decision to end its “zero-COVID” policy.
Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, guarantees the right of public assembly.
Since China’s national security law enacted in June 2020 in response to protracted pro-democracy protests in 2019, authorities have restricted freedoms and arrested dozens of opposition politicians and activists.
Some Western governments have criticized the law as a tool of repression, but Chinese authorities say it has restored stability to the financial hub.
A protester named Chiu, 50, said she appreciated the opportunity to demonstrate “in difficult times” and said she saw the cordons more as a way to help manage crowds.
“It doesn’t mean putting us on a leash to restrict our expression. I think that’s okay,” she told Reuters.
Political observers and some Western diplomats are watching to see if authorities will allow a resumption of major protests in Hong Kong, namely June 4 and July 1, which had been a mainstay of the city’s once vibrant civil society scene and attracted thousands of people.