Hong Kong protesters target key anniversaries for mass action

Protestors crowd a street in Hong Kong for a pro-democracy rally. Photo / AP

After a monthslong and unprecedented protest movement that has ruptured trust between many of Hong Kong residents and the city's institutions, protesters now have a more urgent message: mass action tomorrow, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

At the weekend, protesters gathered in the tens of thousands to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2014 Umbrella Revolution that awakened the city's distinct identity in opposition to its masters in Beijing, and laid the groundwork for an political crisis now in its 17th week.

Protesters unfurled a banner that read: "We are back," keeping true to a promise made when authorities cleared their 79-day sit in back in 2014, and symbolically took over the same road they occupied at the time.

Riot policemen frisk bus passengers in Hong Kong on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. Photo / AP

Police once again moved to quickly clear protesters with tear gas and water cannons blasting a blue-tinted dye, in an indication of their waning tolerance for demonstrations that have played out every weekend since June.

Armed with posters, stickers, flyers and cans of glue and spray paint, protesters rebuilt so-called "Lennon Walls" of anti-government graffiti. Images that have shocked this city in recent weeks were on display: Police pummelling black-clad protesters, spraying commuters in the eyes with pepper spray and injured demonstrators clutching their wounds. Almost every blank surface was covered with posters advertising demonstrations on the Chinese anniversary.

Protesters see the anniversary as a climax for their movement, which, both in 2014 and today, centres on the fears that China under its leader Xi Jinping will erase the city's freedoms and autonomy.