About 1,000 gather in Central for rally calling for humanitarian aid on rare peaceful start to weekend, as city braces for illegal march on Sunday

[Valin]

South China Morning Post

Sum Lok-kei  Gigi Choy  Zoe Low  Martin Choi  Victor Ting  

19 Oct, 2019

Hong Kong marked a rare Saturday afternoon without any violent protest but about 1,000 residents gathered as night fell in Central to call for international humanitarian aid, as the city geared up for an unauthorised march on Sunday.

With Hong Kong entering its 20th consecutive weekend of anti-government demonstrations, organisers of Saturday’s rally said earlier that the event at Edinburgh Place was meant to be peaceful and rational, involving people praying for foreign help amid more than four months of chaos that has rocked the city.

Police said the turnout peaked at 1,600 people.

The rally, or prayer meeting, came as demonstrators also gathered in other places such as Tsim Sha Tsui on Saturday to protest against the government, a day before an illegal march is set to take place from Salisbury Garden in the shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui to the West Kowloon terminus of the high-speed rail link on Sunday afternoon.

Oct. 192019

[Valin]

Hong Kong protesters set up roadblocks, clash with police[/url

KELVIN CHAN

Oct. 20 2019

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong protesters flooded the city’s streets on Sunday in defiance of a ban by the authorities on their march, setting up roadblocks and tossing firebombs amid the firing of tear gas by police.

Protest leaders carried a black banner at the front of the procession that read, “Five main demands, not one less,” as they pressed their calls for accountability and political rights in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

Police beefed up security measures for the unauthorized rally, the latest chapter in unrest that has disrupted life in the financial hub since early June.

Black-clad and masked protesters barricaded streets at multiple locations in Kowloon, where the city’s subway operator restricted passenger access.

(Snip)

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