Protesters march against police use of tear gas as Hong Kong readies for a day of demonstrations
PUBLISHED ONDecember 01, 2019 4:48 AM
HONG KONG - About 200 people are marching against police use of tear gas as Hong Kong readies for a day of protests.
The group carried yellow balloons as they headed Sunday (Dec 1) morning from Edinburgh Square to the nearby government headquarters.
Two other marches are scheduled for later in the day.
The city has had two weeks of relative calm, though police skirmished with some protesters near a subway station on Saturday night.
One march will head to the American Consulate to thank the United States for approving legislation aimed at holding Hong Kong and Chinese officials accountable for any human rights abuses in the semi-autonomous territory.
Another has been called in the Tsim Sha Tsui district near the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the site of the last fierce clashes with police.
China has accused the United Nations high commissioner for human rights of emboldening "radical violence" in Hong Kong by suggesting that the city's leader conduct an investigation into reports of excessive use of force by police.
Hong Kong's months-long protests started over a now-withdrawn extradition Bill that would send suspects to mainland China for trials but have since evolved into other demands including an independent inquiry into police behaviour during clashes with protesters as well as universal suffrage.
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The UN commissioner, Ms Michelle Bachelet, wrote in an opinion piece on Saturday in the South China Morning Post that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam's government must prioritise "meaningful, inclusive" dialogue to resolve the crisis.
She urged Mrs Lam to hold an "independent and impartial judge-led investigation" into police conduct during protests. It has been one of key demands of pro-democracy demonstrations that have roiled the territory since June.
China's UN mission in Geneva says Ms Bachelet's article exerts pressure on the government and will "only embolden the rioters to conduct more severe radical violence".