The first protest in two years took place in Hong Kong on Sunday under the close supervision of local authorities.
Approved by police, the demonstration was attended by dozens of people, who wore numbered badges around their necks for accounting purposes and whose signs were checked beforehand. No more than 100 people in total were permitted to participate, BBC News noted.
The rally was held to oppose a land reclamation project in the city. The Hong Kong government had proposed a plan to build public facilities including a garbage and rubbish treatment plant and a cement plant in the Tseung Kwan O neighborhood.
Stringent Covid restrictions in the special Chinese zone had prevented most protests after 2020. Huge protests against the Chinese regime erupted in Hong Kong in 2019, leading to the arrest and jailing of many activists. In response, Beijing imposed a national-security law in the name of restoring stability that made it easier to prosecute protesters for challenging the Chinese Communist Party. The policy chilled dissent and activism in the former colony, which previously enjoyed certain freedoms the mainland did not.
On Sunday, authorities demanded a “reasonable excuse” from protesters who wore masks during the event. During the 2019 unrest, Hong Kong’s government exercised emergency powers to prohibit protesters from wearing masks so it could apprehend those accused of committing crimes, ABC News noted. Those in violation of that rule could face up to a year in jail and fines of $3,200 as punishment.
Cyrus Chan, one of the march organizers, told ABC that protesters coordinated with police in advance on banners and the messaging they displayed. Police instructed him and others involved not to wear all-black outfits, which were seen during the 2019 demonstrations, he said. Chanting slogans was allowed, BBC News said. Members of the press were also kept apart from protesters.
“It’s definitely strict,” Chan said. “We hope this is just an individual case. We hope to show them that Hong Kong society has the ability to have peaceful marches and they do not need to set that many conditions to restrict us.”