About 1,000 people were taking part in a Christian march through central Hong Kong on August 31 as a 13th straight weekend of pro-democracy protests got underway. After garing at an athletic field, y marched to a Methodist church and n police hequarters. crowd alternated between singing hymns and chanting slogans of pro-democracy movement that has taken to streets of Hong Kong for more than two months. An online flyer for demonstration called it a “prayer for sinners” and h a Christian cross and a picture of Hong Kong’s embattled leer Carrie Lam.

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Authorities expected unauthorized marches beforehand

Authorities turned down an application from ar group for a major march but were preparing for widely anticipated unauthorized demonstrations. y shut down streets and subway service near Chinese government’s office in Hong Kong, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) west of religious march.

“A public event is expected on Hong Kong Island this afteron which may cause severe disruptions,” police said. “Text messs have been sent to alert members of public to mind ir personal safety.”

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fifth anniversary of free elections denial in China

Saturday marks fifth anniversary of a decision by China’s ruling Communist Party against fully democratic elections in Hong Kong. Religious meetings do t require police approval, but police said late Friday said that a procession with more than 30 people does. participants in religious march were peaceful and mostly older than younger protesters who have led this summer’s movement and, in some cases, blocked streets and battled police with bricks, sticks and gasoline bombs.

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reason behind protests

Following  local government proposing a controversial new extrition law, political unrest in Hong Kong has accelerated since beginning of this year.  new law would make it easier to send Hong Kong residents to mainland China to stand trial, a measure many people believe would undermine Hong Kongers’ legal protections. Within a span of several months, movement has vacillated between peaceful demonstrations of millions of marchers and bloody clashes between protesters and police. Starting on June 9th first march drew a million Hong Kong citizens to streets.

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