Hong Kong protest leaders arrested before weekend rallies: Live updates | CNN (2024)

On the courthouse steps Friday evening, pro-democracy leader Joshua Wong faced the cameras alongside Agnes Chow, who was also arrested earlier in the day for charges relating to a protest on June 21.

Wong said: “We (are) strongly aware of how President Xi Jinping and the Beijing government are the ones who back and endorse the Hong Kong police to conduct such a mass arrest and prosecution.

Afterwards, Chow made a statement.

She said: “We can see very clearly that the regime and the Hong Kong government is trying to create a white terror to try to scare Hong Kong people to not participate in the social and democratic movement of the future.

The pair both face the charge of “inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly,” which can carry a five-year jail term. They will reappear in court on November 8.

Demosisto’s chairman Ivan Lam has appeared on a charge sheet alongside Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow.

Lam, 25, is charged with “incitement to take part in an unauthorized assembly.” The offense carries a potential five-year jail sentence.

Earlier on Friday, Demosisto said on twitter that Lam had not been arrested.

The Chinese government earlier this summer rejected a proposal by embattled Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to withdraw the controversial extradition bill, according to a Reuters report on Friday.

Hong Kong has been gripped by political unrest since early June, following the attempted introduction of the now-shelved extradition bill.

Protesters had demanded that the bill – which many feared could be used to spirit critics of Beijing across the border to be tried under China’s legal system – be permanently withdrawn.

Lam submitted a report to China that assessed the protesters’ primary demands and found that withdrawing the bill could help to resolve the crisis, according to the report.

Beijing dismissed Lam’s suggestion and ordered her not to accede to any of the protesters’ other key demands at the time, the report said, citing three individuals with direct knowledge of the matter.

According to Reuters, Lam’s report was made in advance of meeting in the Chinese city of Shenzhen on August 7 with senior mainland officials, almost two months after the protest movement began.

In addition to the full withdrawal of the bill, other protest demands outlined in Lam’s report included an independent inquiry into the protests, fully democratic elections, the removal of the term “riot” in describing protests, and scrapping all charges against those arrested so far.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the street to support the protests and voice their dissatisfaction with the city’s government and its policies over the course of the summer.

Lam’s administration considered both the withdrawal of the bill and an independent inquiry as a potential means of reducing support for the movement among moderates.

Earlier this week, Lam appeared to appeal for greater dialogue, while not accepting the protesters’ five demands.

China has continued to publicly back the Hong Kong government while condemning the protesters. On Friday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that the central government “supports, respects and understands” the Hong Kong government’s position regarding the five demands set out by protesters.

CNN has reached out to the Hong Kong-Macao Affairs Office and the Office of Chief Executive Carrie Lam for comment on the Reuters report.

More than 900 people have been arrested since mass demonstrations began on June 9, according to police. They’ve been charged with a range of offenses including “taking part in a riot,” unlawful assembly, assaulting police officers, resisting arrest and possession of offensive weapons.

The youngest person who has been arrested is 12 years old.

Hong Kong police have arrested seven pro-democracy activists in the past 24 hours, in a sweeping round up of some of the city’s protest figureheads. The arrested include:

Rick Hui, pro-democracy politician from the Sha Tin District Council

Agnes Chow, former Legislative Council candidate of pro-democracy group Demosisto

Joshua Wong, 2014 Umbrella Revolution leader and Demosisto leader

Andy Chan, founder of the outlawed pro-independence Hong Kong National Party

The other three arrestees have not been named by officials.

According to police, two were women arrested on suspicion of breaking into Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on July 1, and the third is a 59-year-old man suspected of rioting at Yuen Long station on July 13.

The arrests came ahead of a massive pro-democracy march planned for Saturday, but which was canceled by organizers today. Police expect protesters to show up anyway.

As the protests enter their 13th consecutive week, the past 7 days have seen escalating tensions. Last Sunday, a Hong Kong police officer fired a live shot into the air during protests for the first time.

Then in the week, Chief Executive Carrie Lam refused to rule out invoking emergency powers and a prominent protest organizer was attacked by masked men carrying baseball bats and knives.

Amnesty International called Friday’s arrests a tactic “straight out of Beijing’s playbook.”

Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow, of the Demosisto pro-democracy group, have been granted bail.

The pair are expected to speak to press shortly.

Outspoken pro-democracy politician Rick Hui was arrested on Friday. Police have also arrestedthree high-profile activists in the past 24 hours.

Hui, a member of the Sha Tin District Council, was arrested on suspicion of “obstructing the police officers in the performance of their duty,” police said in a statement.

The accusation relates to Hui’s alleged participation in a rally in Sha Tin in the city’s New Territories. Hui remains in police custody.

Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Andy Chan were arrested on suspicion of protest-related offenses.

The most serious charge that Wong and Chow face is “inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly,” which carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail if convicted.

No one predictedthis.

In 2014, when the final protesters wereclearedfrom Hong Kong’s streets after 79 days of pro-democracy protests – many of them forcibly carried off by police – they promised they’d be back.

For years that seemed like a pipe dream. But this summer has proved not so.

Four years and eight months and 12 days after the Umbrella Movement ended, on Tuesday this week the current protests surpassed the Umbrella Movement in duration and massively overtook it in terms of disruption and political turmoil.

And they show no signs of stopping.

Hong Kong protesters promised to return after the last Umbrella Movement activists left the streets in December 2014.

As the protests enter their 13th weekend the complete withdrawal of the now-shelved bill that would have allowed extradition to mainland China remains a priority. But protesters have also expanded their demands to include the driving issue of the 2014 protests: Genuine democracy in how the city picks its leader.

The Umbrella Movement, a brief explainer:

When the British handed Hong Kong back to Chinese control in 1997, the city switched from having a London-picked governor to a local Chief Executive, selected by an “election committee” and officially appointed by Beijing.

But the ultimate aim was for the city’s leader to be elected “by universal suffrage.”

In 2014, however, China’s leadersruled out full universal suffrage, saying that candidates could be elected by the public – only after they had been approved by a Beijing-dominated nomination committee.

Most democratic activists and lawmakers rejected the deal as a sham and it was eventually defeated in the city’s legislature after abotched walkoutby pro-government legislators.

In the interim, hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers occupied parts of the city for 79-days, demanding Beijing withdraw its decision and allow the chief executive to be elected by “genuine universal suffrage.”

After the use of tear gas in the early hours of the protests backfired spectacularly, bringing more people to the streets, authorities took a largely hands-off approach, and the Umbrella Movement had gradually fizzled out by the time police cleared the last dedicated protesters in December 2014.

The director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, has described the arrests pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow on Friday morning and independence activistAndy Chan on Thursday night, as a tactic “straight out of Beijing’s playbook.”

In a statement, Man-kei Tam said that the arrests of Agnes Chow and Joshua Wong constituted an “outrageous assault on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”

“The authorities must end this concerted attack on the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly. It is vital that the authorities send a clear message that people in Hong Kong can still enjoy these rights irrespective of their political beliefs,” he added.

Police have charged Wong, 22, with “inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly,” “organizing unauthorized assembly” and ” knowingly participating in an unauthorized assembly.”

Chow, also 22, is charged with “inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly” and “knowingly participating in unauthorized assembly.”

High-profile Hong Kong democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow could face five years in jail if convicted of “inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly.”

They are both set to appear at the Eastern Districts Magistrate’s Court on Hong Kong Island this afternoon, after being arrested this morning.

Police have charged Wong, 22, with “inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly,” “organizing unauthorized assembly” and ” knowingly participating in an unauthorized assembly.”

Chow, also 22, is charged with “inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly” and “knowingly participating in unauthorized assembly.”

“Inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly” is the most serious of their charges.

Jimmy Lai knows the price of fighting for democracy in Hong Kong: it’s made the former textile tycoon a public target for decades.

Since founding his pro-democracy tabloid, Apple Daily, in the 1990s, Lai’s activism has threatened his fortune, subjected him to death threats and made him a symbol of the city’s tensions with mainland China.

Jimmy Lai with his Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper which sparked a price war when it launched in 1995.

“It’s my nature to be a rebel – to be a revolutionary,” says the 70-year-old, who got rich through the Giordano retail brand. “I don’t believe in incremental change.”

Apple Daily has been the newspaper of the protesters in recent months. Its front pages tell citizens to go out and march, it has given away posters to raise at demonstrations, and it regularly taunts Carrie Lam’s government for its failures.

Businesses with interests across the border hardly ever associate with the newspaper.

“No other tycoon is willing to” be so outspoken against Beijing as Lai, says Clement So, a Chinese University of Hong Kong professor. Speaking out against Beijing is generally seen as bad for business.

That outspokenness doesn’t come without dangers.

In 2015, Molotov co*cktails were hurled at the Apple Daily’s offices and Lai’s home in the early hours of the morning. Today, Lai has a personal security detail at his home. But the dangers of the struggle don’t deter the septuagenarian.

Demosisto Vice Chairperson Isaac Cheng speaks to press on the arrest of party leaders Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow, in Hong Kong on August 30, 2019.

Demosisto, the political group of arrested pro-democracy activists Agnes Chow and Joshua Wong, said on Friday that the arrests were meant to “spread fear.”

“When they are creating figures that lead the whole movement, they are creating common figures and telling the people that they are the leaders controlling everything,” said Isaac Cheng, the Vice Chairperson of Demosisto.

“They want to get the so-called ‘leaders’ of the movement, in order to let other people be afraid they’ll be next,” Cheng said.

The pro-democracy movement this summer in Hong Kong has been fluid and proudly leaderless – making the arrests of prominent figures like Chow and Wong unusual.

What this means for the movement: Tomorrow’s mass march, planned by the Civil Human Rights Front, has been cancelled after failing to obtain police approval. But Cheng says he believes people will continue protesting in the future, undaunted by the threat of arrest.

He added that Hong Kongers, united in the movement, would be angry and protest regardless of who had been arrested – high profile or not.

“There is no room for dialogue now,” he said, dismissing the government’s repeated calls for open dialogue. “They are still not responding to our five demands, and they are still using violence … Our five demands are really clear.”

Police stand guard in front of a police station on August 24, 2019 in Hong Kong.

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There have been hundreds of arrests this summer – but Hong Kong legal experts say today’s targeted roundup may indicate that the government is losing patience and cracking down on the pro-democracy movement.

“These sorts of charges have been taking place – I think the point is the timing is very unfortunate, it comes one day before the anniversary of China’s refusal to grant Hong Kong their constitutional right to democracy,” said Kevin Yam, a Hong Kong lawyer and political commentator.

Tomorrow’s planned protest marks a symbolic anniversary – 5 years ago, the central Chinese government said no to open elections in Hong Kong. Protesters say this stifles democracy, and are now calling for universal suffrage.

“They’ve got until October 1 to decapitate the movement. I’m sure that’s their strategy,” he added. October 1 is the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Both Yam and Zweig said the arrests are a striking contrast to the Hong Kong government’s repeated calls for open and peaceful dialogue.

“Who are you having dialogue with if you arrest the leaders of the movement?” said Zweig.

Two pro-democracy leaders arrested on Friday in Hong Kong belong to a group called Demosisto.

But what exactly is Demosisto?

A political organization founded by protest leaders: Demosisto is a pro-democracy group founded in the wake of the 2014 Umbrella Movement as a political party. Protest leader Joshua Wong announced the formation of the group in April 2016, saying at the time that Demosisto “will demand self-determination” for Hong Kong.

Political successes and failures: In September 2016, Demosisto won its first seat in the Legislative Council when founder and Umbrella Movement leader Nathan Law became the city’s youngest ever lawmaker at 23. But the following year, Law was one of several lawmakers disqualified from office by Hong Kong courts after Beijing enacted a rarely-used power to “reinterpret” the city’s constitution, putting more stringent requirements on how legislators took their oaths of office. In January 2018, Demosisto candidate Agnes Chow was also banned from running in a by-election due to the party’spositionthat Hong Kongers be allowed to decide their own future. In May 2018, Law stepped down from leading the party, handing the reigns to former student activist Ivan Lam.

A return to activism: According to the SCMP, Demosisto announced last year that it would no longer consider itself a political party and would switch its focus from “contesting elections to initiating social movements.”

A message on the group’s website said:

A Hong Kong police officer fired at least one live gunshot on August 25, 2019 after a pro-democracy rally descended into violence.

It’s been a dramatic week in Hong Kong. Here’s a quick recap of the key events connected to the protest movement:

Sunday, August 25: A gunshot is fired by a police officer for the first time in the 3 months of unrest, as protesters lob petrol bombs at the authorities in a major escalation in violence.

Tuesday, August 27: A defiant Carrie Lam refuses to rule out invoking the Emergency Regulations Ordinance at a press conference. That ordinance would give the city’s leader the power to pass any laws deemed “in the public interest” in times of danger.

Thursday, August 29: Jimmy Sham, of the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), which has organized Hong Kong’s largest protests, is attacked by masked men carrying baseball bats and knives in Kowloon. On the same day, police banned a rally and march planned by the CHRF for Saturday.

Friday, August 30: High-profile pro-democracy leaders are arrested in an apparent roundup of activists ahead of what will be the 13thconsecutive weekendof mass protests.

The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) announces it will cancel Saturday’s march.

The group responsible forHongKong’s largest marches this summer has canceled a mass rally planned for Saturday after they failed to secure permission from police.

The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) announced on Friday that it had failed in a final appeal to have the rally approved.

“The right to march and the right to protest is a basic human right and is very important to allHongKongpeople,” said CHRF organizer Bonnie Leung.

CHRF were responsible for organize mass protests that attracted hundreds of thousands of participants on June 9, June 16 and August 18.

What the arrests mean for the protests: Today’s arrests may spell trouble for future marches, said David Zweig, professor emeritus at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and director of Transnational China Consulting Limited.

If today’s arrests signal a new willingness to enforce the law and detain participants, organizers could be arrested if they plan and carry out more unapproved marches.

“If they arrest the leaders … it really starts to cut a fine line between what’s illegal action and Hong Kong people’s right to protest,” he added.

A Chinese People's Liberation Army soldier at the Hong Kong Garrison on August 1, 2019.

Today’s arrests come after China rotated fresh military troopsto the Hong Kong garrison yesterday.

China has stationed troops in Hong Kong since it was turned over to the Chinese in 1997 from Great Britain. It rotates them each year.

The People’s Liberation Army troop movements were carried out in the dead of the night and took place at the same time as a rotation of the garrison in neighboring Macao. They were announced by Chinese state media early Thursday morning.

Why people are worried: The troop movement sparked skepticism among United States defense officials. “This is the time to start worrying,” one unnamed US official told CNN.

The specific concern is that moving tactical vehicles and personnel carriers into Hong Kong puts Beijing into a more immediate position to crack down on pro-democracy rallies.

Asanti-government unrest in Hong Kongapproaches the thirteenth consecutive weekendwith no sign of stopping, there are signs beleaguered officials may be mulling radical solutions — including a partial or complete internet block to cut off protesters from their key organizing platforms.

Speaking to reportersthis week, the city’s leader Carrie Lam appeared to leave open the possibility of using emergency powers to tackle the increasingly violent protests, after the move was suggested by pro-Beijing media.

“All laws in Hong Kong — if they can provide a legal means to stop violence and chaos — the (city’s) government is responsible for looking into them,” she said.

October 1 deadline: Lam is facing increasing pressure from Beijing to tackle the unrest before October 1, the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, a senior pro-government lawmaker told CNN this week. While Lam has indicated a willingness to talk to protesters in an attempt to find a political solution, both opposition figures and supportersexpressed frustration that she ruled out any potential compromiseon the protest movement’s five key demands, increasing the likelihood that talks fail.

What emergency powers mean: Under theEmergency Regulations Ordinance, the chief executive has the power to bypass the city’s legislature to “make any regulations whatsoever which (they) may consider desirable in the public interest” for an indefinite period.

That includes “censorship, and the control and suppression of publications, writings, maps, plans, photographs, communications and means of communication.”

IT industry figures have reacted fiercely to any suggestion the government could censor or control internet access.

Read more on that here.

The chief organizer behindHongKong’s largest protest was attacked Thursday by masked men carrying a baseball bat and knife.

The attack took place in the Kowloon neighborhood of Jordan. The group Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), said Jimmy Sham, the group’s convenor, and his friend were attacked in a restaurant.

The friend was taken to the hospital for injuries, and Sham was not injured, said a CHRF spokesperson. HongKongPolice say they arrived on the scene shortly after the report and are searching for two suspects.

“The police force condemns any violence against any innocent person and of course, including this case. According to the information in my hand, we didn’t receive any previous intelligence on this incident,” said Hong Kong police Senior SuperintendentKongWing-cheung.

A major organizer: CHRF is an overarching organization of pro-democracy groups inHongKong,which has coordinated the biggest marches of the summer. Organizer estimates say marches reached 2 million in June.

CHRF is also calling for another mass rally and march this Saturday, which has not been approved by the police.

Andy Chan, pro-independence activist and founder of the Hong Kong National Party, on January 14, 2019.

Andy Chan, one of the pro-democracy leaders arrested today, founded the now-outlawed pro-independence Hong Kong National Party.

The Hong Kong National Party wasbanned last year on national security grounds, an unprecedented move that critics say was politically motivated.

Last year, Security Secretary John Lee said the party had spread hatred against mainland Chinese immigrants and advocated an “armed revolution” for Hong Kong independence.

The ban made it illegal to be a member of Hong Kong National Party, act on its behalf, or raise funds for it. Offenders could face three years in jail and fines of up to $12,000.

The party was dissolved shortly after Chan participated in a controversialtalk at Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club, which pro-Beijing groups tried to pressure the club to cancel. Financial Times journalist Victor Mallet chaired the talk, and was subsequently abruptly denied a work visa for Hong Kong.

Second arrest this summer: Chan was arrested earlier this month for possession of offensive weapons and suspected bomb-making materials, after a police raid on an an industrial building uncovered materials used to make Molotov co*cktails, six arrows, two bows and two softball bats, according to Hong Kong police.

A protester holds metal cooking tongs as police fire tear gas rounds during a protest in Tsuen Wan on August 25, 2019.

The arrests of high-profile pro-democracy leaders come ahead of what will be the 13th consecutive weekend of mass protests in the Asian financial hub.

What protesters want: The protests started in June over a controversial extradition law, buthave now expandedinto five demands: Fully withdraw the extradition bill, set up an independent inquiry to probe police brutality, withdraw the characterization of protests as “riots,” release those arrested at protests, and implement universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

Who they are:The movement has seen participants and supporters across all demographics, but those on the front lines are largely young students, teenagers, and millennials. There is no centralized leadership or figureheads within the movement – they pride themselves on being democratic, leaderless, and flexible.

Summer of discontent:Around 900 people have been arrested since mass demonstrations began on June 9, according to police, for a range of offenses including “taking part in a riot,” unlawful assembly, assaulting police officers, resisting arrest and possession of offensive weapons. The youngest person arrested is 12 years old.

Where it’s all going:Nobody really knows. Protests are becoming volatile as fear and suspicion spread, and police ramp up arrests and crackdowns. Violence has been escalating for weeks, and it could yet continue as both sides dig in.

Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong at a march to the West Kowloon in Hong Kong on July 7, 2019.

Pro-democracy leader Joshua Wong been a prominent fixture during the recent leaderless protests, giving international media appearances and commentary on his Twitter feed.

Born in 1996, eight months before control of Hong Kong was handed over from the UK to China, Wong has spent most of his adolescence and all of his early adulthood fighting against what he and others say is increasing encroachment by Beijing.

A student leader during 2014’s Occupy protests – which called for universal suffrage in Hong Kong – Wong becamesomething of an international figureheadfor the movement, and even appeared on the cover of Time magazine. His role in the protests later became the subject of the 2017 Netflix documentary, “Teenager vs. Superpower.”

But his involvement as head of the 2014 movement has landed him in jail several times.

In June, Wong was released from prison a day after hundreds of thousands ofHong Kongerstook to the streets tomarch against an extradition bill with China. He walked free after serving one month of a two month sentence related to the 2014 protests.

In August 2017, Wong, and two other leaders of the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests, Nathan Law and Alex Chow, were sentenced to between six and eight months in prison for public order offenses stemming from the 2014 protests, which shut down parts of the city for several months.

They were originally given community service and suspended sentences, but an appeals court controversially upgraded that to prison time. A decision in February2018 quashed their prison sentences and reinstated the initial ruling.

On Friday, there was confusion within Demosisto over whether an arrest warrant had been issued for former party chair Ivan Lam.

The group later tweeted that he had not been arrested. CNN has not confirmed Lam’s whereabouts and has reached out to police for comment.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow on June 12, 2019.

Agnes Chow, one of the pro-democracy leaders arrested in a targeted roundup today, was a leading figure in Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Revolution.

The 22-year-old was a former Legislative Council candidate of Joshua Wong’s political party Demosisto, but was barred from standing in a 2018 by-election.

All prospective candidates had to sign a declaration acknowledging China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong and disavowing the city’s independence. Chow had signed it the declaration – but was barred from standing, due to Demosisto’spositionthat Hong Kongers be allowed to decide their future, including voting on a potential break from China.

Chow had hoped to fill the seat of her party-mate Nathan Law, who wasone of six lawmakers disqualifiedin 2017 in a heated controversy.

High-profile democracy activists have been arrested byHongKongpolice, including 2014 Umbrella Revolution leader Joshua Wong.

Wong, 22, was arrested Friday morning on charges of organizing, inciting and participating in an unauthorized assembly, said the Demosisto political party.

Demosisto wrote on Twitter that Wong was “forcefully pushed into a private minivan on the street” close to a train station, around 7:30 a.m. local time.

Agnes Chow, a former Demosisto Legislative Council candidate was also arrested on Friday, the party confirmed. CNN has reached out to police for confirmation of the charges.

A high-profile anti-government figurehead, Andy Chan, not affiliated with Demosisto, was arrested atHongKongInternational Airport on Thursday night, according to police.

Police say that Chan has been charged with “suspicion of rioting” and “assaulting a police officer.”