Hong Kong police chief Stephen Lo has confirmed that police are using tear gas, rubber bullets and bean bags to clear protesters around Admiralty.
Addressing the media, he deemed the anti-extradition law protests on Wednesday a “riot” though ruled out asking the People’s Liberation Army for assistance or imposing a curfew.
Lo said police were forced to take action as “protesters would have used metal bars to stab our colleagues.”
See also: ‘Hong Kong will bleed’: Hong Kong police use tear gas as protesters try to storm legislature
“Concerning whether or not the police should take the blame, I think all of us should think about who initiated the violence,” he said.
Protesters booed and yelled at pro-Beijing heavyweight Elsie Leung as she walked past Pacific Plaza. The crowd chanted “betrayer of Hong Kong” as she left the scene.
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— Hong Kong Free Press (@HongKongFP) June 12, 2019
In a video message issued at around 1pm, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said people occupying roads should go back to the pavements as soon as possible so that traffic can resume: “I urge people who gathered to keep calm, restrained, and disperse peacefully as soon as possible, and do not try to break the law.”
Police have released more tear gas, retaken Harcourt Road and pushed protesters back.
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— Hong Kong Free Press (@HongKongFP) June 12, 2019
The legal amendments were tabled in February to allow the city to handle case-by-case extradition requests from jurisdictions with no prior agreements, most notably China and Taiwan.
It would enable the chief executive and local courts to handle extradition requests without legislative oversight. However, democrats, lawyers, journalists, foreign politicians and businesses have raised concerns over the risk of residents being extradited to the mainland, which lacks human rights safeguards.
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