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At Sunday’s rally, native environmentalists and residents within the Tseung Kwan O neighborhood within the New Territories demonstrated towards the development of six services that they are saying could possibly be intrusive and convey nuisance to the neighborhood. They held indicators that learn, “No to setting up a cement manufacturing unit and refuse assortment level!”
Organizers estimated a turnout of 80 individuals; police mentioned 65. Police had put a 100-person restrict on the rally.
The strictly managed march was the primary because the Hong Kong authorities imposed strict limits on crowds and required masks to be worn below pandemic controls.
The organizer of Sunday’s march had to make sure that contributors abided by the national security law, which outlaws dissent and comes with the specter of heavy penalties.
Additionally they needed to guarantee that the contributors didn’t make political statements with their apparel — akin to carrying yellow umbrellas, the image of the pro-democracy demonstrations that introduced town to a standstill in 2019.
In an unprecedented transfer, contributors needed to put on lanyards with badges, every printed with a novel quantity.
Protesters have been additionally banned from carrying face masks to make sure they might be identifiable — and subsequently be extra prudent of their actions. Journalists have been requested to remain past the cordon.
James Ockenden, a 49-year-old British journalist who has lived within the metropolis for twenty years, joined the protest together with his youngsters. He mentioned the foundations, just like the cordon tape, have been absurd.
“As quickly as we got here to a nook, the cordon acquired snarled. … It was humiliating,” Ockenden mentioned. “It felt like being herded like sheep.”
Earlier than the march, all placards and leaflets have been scrutinized by police, mentioned Cyrus Chan, one of many organizers and a member of the Concern Group for Tseung Kwan O Individuals’s Livelihood.
“That is our first pilot check to point out the police that Hong Kong individuals are able to finishing up a peaceable protest, and that’s why we hope measures carried out in at present’s protest is not going to be a brand new regular,” Chan mentioned.
In response to the considerations of the protesters, Hong Kong’s Improvement Bureau acknowledged that it’s going to research the potential for limiting the dimensions of the land reclamation and relocating some services elsewhere.
“We respect the proper to freedom of expression. We’ve reached out to native residents to hearken to their views by means of numerous channels,” a spokesperson mentioned.
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