On Wednesday, over 300 people were arrested across Hong Kong, reflecting China’s zero-tolerance approach to protesting. The protests emerged over a controversial new national security law, and retaliating demonstrators were met with a huge police presence using pepper spray, settling, and searches. In the city’s main global business hub, the police detained and arrested dozens. The new law has been criticized for threatening civil liberties and political freedom.
Video footage shows protestors wrestled to the ground by police, as well as others being sprayed with pepper spray and pellets fired into dense crowds. Although the COVID-19 crisis seemingly ended the Hong Kong protests for several months, now that lockdown measures have been lifted it seems that the protests will resume. The law also makes insulting China’s national anthem a crime punishable by up to three years in prison.
Read More: Riot police take zero tolerance approach to Hong Kong protests as tensions build