Hong Kong protesters defy police, deface Beijing office during march
Tens of thousands of protesters defied police, threw eggs and defaced Beijing’s office in Hong Kong with graffiti after taking over major city roads in a new escalation of unrest.
Earlier, 430,000 people had marched through city streets to oppose a controversial extradition bill and call for Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam to resign.
Thousands of masked protesters remained on the city streets and formed supply lines passing umbrellas and barricades to the frontline after 8pm when police announced they would launch a clearance operation in the west near Beijing’s offices.
Graffiti insulting Chinese president Xi Jinping was sprayed on the Central Goverment Liaison Office, which the protest march reached in the early evening.
Hundreds of thousand of protesters had ignored a police demand that the authorised rally end short, on the other side of the glossy Central district.
Police had attempted to curb the march, which was organised by the Civil Human Rights Front, to call for an independent commission into police behaviour at earlier protests.
At 10pm large numbers of protesters had gathered on Central’s glossiest shopping streets, outside Louis Vuitton and Tiffany stores. On Pedder Street protesters huddled under umbrellas like a rugby scrum to build barricades to block police advancing by tying fences with cable ties.
Mainland Chinese newspaper The Global Times condemned the defacing of China’s offices and said the protesters were causing "chaos".
Earlier in the afternoon people had marched through the parliament district and occupied major roads outside the Legislative Council in a large but peaceful act of civil disobedience.
"We want to fight for our feeedom. Even though Carrie Lam said the extradition bill was dead, we want it withdrawn and Lam to step down. We want universal suffrage," said Ching, aged 37.
He said at 6.40pm he kept walking to Central despite passing the official end point of the march because "the police just disappeared".
Outside police headquarters protesters had turned huge water filled barricades, placed there to protect the building, into Lennon Walls - walls covered with sticky notes urging political reform. The Legislative Council was also barricaded.
But there were few police to be seen on the street, and the Central Government Liaison Office was left exposed.
After police moved towards the western district there was a deafening roar as protesters retreated to Central. But human chains were set up to send umbrellas to the frontline.
Tens of thousands of masked protesters lined the street cheering as barricades were carried along the road.
Multiple Lennon Walls sprung up along the route.
Man, 30, wrote "Be water", a famous quote from kung fu star Bruce Lee that has been adopted as the young protesters' motto as they try to evade arrest.
"We want freedom in Hong Kong," she said.
Tom, 35, wrote the date of the November district council elections on his message.
"Everyone should vote," he said, hoping that the street protests could propel more democracy advocates into all levels of government.