{"id":12995,"date":"2019-10-07T10:35:36","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T17:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=12995"},"modified":"2019-10-07T10:36:43","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T17:36:43","slug":"hong-kong-leader-invokes-emergency-powers-to-ban-masks-at-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2019\/10\/07\/hong-kong-leader-invokes-emergency-powers-to-ban-masks-at-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong leader invokes emergency powers to ban masks at protests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_gaFC_9pRj8\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>October 4, 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/news-wires\">NEWS WIRES<\/a> (france24.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hong Kong&#8217;s embattled leader Carrie Lam on Friday invoked colonial-era emergency powers for the first time in more than 50 years in a dramatic move intended to quell escalating violence in the Chinese-ruled city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/Carrie-Lam\/\">Lam<\/a>, speaking at a news conference, said a ban on face masks would take effect on Saturday under the emergency laws that allow authorities to &#8220;make any regulations whatsoever&#8221; in whatever they deem to be in the public interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many protesters wear masks to hide their identity due to fears employers could face pressure to take action against them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was not clear how the government would implement the mask ban in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/hong-kong\/\">a city<\/a>&nbsp;where many of its 7.4 million residents wear them every day to protect against infection following the outbreak of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe allowfullscreen=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/826dCFIX2L4?hl=en&amp;showinfo=0&amp;color=white&amp;rel=1&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.france24.com&amp;widgetid=2\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8216;Hong Kong protesters are incredibly resourceful and creative,&#8217; says FRANCE 24&#8217;s correspondent Oliver Farry<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Four months of anti-government protests have plunged the former British colony into its biggest political crisis since its handover to Beijing in 1997 and have created a serious challenge to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/China\/\">Chinese<\/a>&nbsp;leader&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/xi-jinping\">Xi Jinping<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Violence escalated on Tuesday,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/20191001-china-celebrates-70-years-it-became-communist-state-hong-kong-seethes\">the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People&#8217;s Republic of China<\/a>, when police fired about 1,800&nbsp;volleys of tear gas, 900&nbsp;rubber bullets and six live bullets &#8211; one of which hit an 18-year-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/20191003-shot-hong-kong-teen-charged-rioting-attacking-police\">The student, Tony Tsang, was shot at close range as he fought an officer<\/a>&nbsp;with what appeared to be a white pole. He has been charged with rioting, which carries a maximum 10-year sentence, and assaulting an officer. Tsang is in stable condition in hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The shooting enraged protesters who rampaged across the city, throwing petrol bombs, blocking roads and starting fires as police responded with tear gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe allowfullscreen=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Lf5EKcSEgzs?hl=en&amp;showinfo=0&amp;color=white&amp;rel=1&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.france24.com&amp;widgetid=3\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Hong Kong protesters react to news of the face mask ban<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2018More Serious\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/20191004-hong-kong-emergency-law-ban-mask-protest-carrie-lam-china\">Even before the new rules were confirmed, protests against them began<\/a>&nbsp;across the Asian financial hub, with hundreds of office workers wearing masks gathering to march. &#8220;Police brutality is becoming more serious and the set up of an anti-mask law is to threaten us from protesting,&#8221; said one protester, who asked to be identified as just Chan, a 27-year-old financial industry worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pro-Beijing groups had been pushing for legislation to ban face masks at demonstrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The protesters are angry about what they see as creeping interference by Beijing in their city&#8217;s affairs despite a promise of autonomy in the &#8220;one country, two systems&#8221; formula under which Hong Kong returned to China in 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>China dismisses accusations it is meddling and has accused foreign governments, including the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/usa\/\">United States<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/united-kingdom\/\">Britain<\/a>, of stirring up anti-China sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What began as opposition to a proposed extradition law, that could have seen people sent for trial in mainland courts, has grown into a call for five demands, including universal suffrage and an inquiry into alleged police brutality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The protests have been inflamed by the police shooting of a teenaged secondary school student on Tuesday during a clash, and more rallies are expected later in the evening and over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities have already loosened guidelines on the use of force by police, according to documents seen by Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>(REUTERS)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 4, 2019 NEWS WIRES (france24.com) Hong Kong&#8217;s embattled leader Carrie Lam on Friday invoked colonial-era emergency powers for the first time in more than 50 years in a dramatic move intended to quell escalating violence in the Chinese-ruled city. Lam, speaking at a news conference, said a ban on&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2019\/10\/07\/hong-kong-leader-invokes-emergency-powers-to-ban-masks-at-protests\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12995"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12995"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12997,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12995\/revisions\/12997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}