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Hong Kong Protesters Disperse After Police Complex Blockade

Hong Kong Protesters Disperse After Surrounding Police Complex

(Bloomberg) -- Thousands of demonstrators who surrounded Hong Kong police headquarters dispersed peacefully after they had blocked all entrances to the building for 15 hours as part of ongoing protests over a proposed China-backed extradition bill.

Protesters began converging on the police complex in the Wan Chai district on Friday after moving over from the nearby central government building, which Chief Executive Carrie Lam preemptively shut amid threats of demonstrations. The protesters are demanding the repeal of the extradition law and that all charges be dropped against demonstrators who clashed with police last week.

Hong Kong Protesters Disperse After Police Complex Blockade

An estimated 50,000 people turned up at the rally’s peak, though the crowd shrank to a few hundred after midnight before it was dispersed around 3 a.m., said Roy Kwong, a legislator who attended the protest until the end. The demonstration was peaceful and this large-scale sit-in protest could become the mode of social movement in Hong Kong in the future.

“Hong Kong people are increasingly getting used to this mode of protest -- gather and disperses peacefully at any time, anywhere, and this could be the future of social movement in the city,” Kwong said in a telephone interview. “It’s ebb and flow like water,” he added, alluding to the famous saying of the late martial arts star Bruce Lee.

Hong Kong Protesters Disperse After Police Complex Blockade

Protestors used barriers to block entries and exits to the police building, pelted it with eggs and drew graffiti on the walls, police said in a statement.

“Police have shown the greatest tolerance to the protesters who assembled outside PHQ, but their means of expressing views have become illegal, irrational and unreasonable,” according to the statement. “Police will stringently follow up on these illegal activities.”

The siege showed the Beijing-backed government is still struggling to quiet unrest almost a week after Lam decided to suspend the controversial legislation that would’ve allowed extraditions to China. Opponents have called for the bill’s complete withdrawal, Lam’s resignation and for the government to rescind its description of a rowdy June 12 protest outside the Legislative Council chamber as a “riot situation.”

Hong Kong Protesters Disperse After Police Complex Blockade

Massive crowds have formed the Hong Kong protests, which focused global attention on the growing anxiety over China’s commitment to the former British colony’s autonomy. The disruptions come at an awkward time for the government, with Chinese President Xi Jinping due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump next week on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Japan.

As many as 2 million protesters flooded the streets on June 16, bringing parts of the city to a standstill for hours. It was the third mass demonstration in just over a week over a controversial bill that would allow extraditions to mainland China for the first time.

The Civil Human Rights Front will organize a protest on Sunday against the Hong Kong police’s alleged abuse of power during the mass demonstrations earlier this month.

--With assistance from Justin Chin, Fion Li, Yvonne Man, Sebastian Chau, Josie Wong, Shawna Kwan, Kari Soo Lindberg and Cathy Chan.

To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Davis in Hong Kong at abdavis@bloomberg.net;Blake Schmidt in Hong Kong at bschmidt16@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, ;Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, John McCluskey

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