Published 20:34 IST, October 16th 2019
Hong Kong: Over 2200 people detained in the anti-government protests
Beleaguered Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam stated that the police forces in Hong Kong have taken more than 2200 people into custody in relation to the protests
- World News
- 2 min read
Beleaguered Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam, stated that the police forces in Hong Kong, have taken more than 2200 people into custody in relation to the 4 month long anti-government demonstrations that have plagued the semi-autonomous state of Hong Kong.
Carrie Lam: Protests caused a problem for authorities
While speaking to an international media outlet, Lam stated that these protests have caused a problem for authorities for quite some time now and have often turned into something violent and have caused damage to both people and property.
Carrie Lam was supposed to deliver a speech in a recent parliament session, a first since it was suspended due to the protesters who were fighting against the extradition bill that sent convicts to mainland China for their respective trials.
"Forced"
Lam was "forced" to give her speech via a video conference because she was jeered by lawmakers who were arguing for a pro-democratic environment and were against the leader's violent methods of letting the police force use extreme measures to tackle the protesters.
A former British colony
A former British colony, Hong Kong was given back to China in the year 1997 and enjoys a "one country, two systems" policy but has long been subject to demonstrations that have largely been tagged as anti-government by the Chinese authorities and has also seen people being stripped of the civil liberties as the protests turned violent in nature.
The violent protests have been subject to some amount of police brutality, with authorities resorting to using tear gas at protesters amid escalating tensions that have led to a lot of arrests. The protests which were once peaceful have turned violent as the demonstration entered its 16th week. Even though Carrie Lam pulled back the anti-extradition bill that started the protests in the month of June, the protestors had by then transformed into a more extensive and progressively fierce enemy of the government.
(With inputs from agencies)
Updated 22:25 IST, October 16th 2019
