JULY 3, 2014 3:08 AM July 3, 2014 10:46 pm
The police removed demonstrators on Wednesday morning from a sit-in that followed Hong Kong’s pro-democracy march.Credit Kin Cheung/Associated Press
After a day of largely ignoring the big turnout for Hong Kong’s pro-democracymarch on Tuesday, China’s news outlets have weighed in — to report on the arrests that followed it.
The police arrested 511 people early Wednesday for obstruction of a public place and unlawful assembly. Those arrested had taken part in sit-ins in downtown Hong Kong that continued for hours after the protest march concluded. The police say that 25 have been released on bail, meaning they could face charges, while the rest were released with a warning.
Many mainland Chinese news media outlets carried a short report from the state-run Xinhua news agency saying that about 500 demonstrators had been arrested, but did not say why they had been protesting.
In a commentary on Thursday headlined “Hong Kong Police Did the Right Thing to Arrest 511 Protesters,” the Global Times, a Communist Party-run newspaper, warned that Hong Kong could experience unrest like that seen in Thailand or Ukraine:
Mainland society is concerned with Hong Kong and wants it to do well. From our point of view, Hong Kong police’s decisive handling of “Occupy Central” protesters not only is legal but also emphasizes the Hong Kong government’s resolve to protect fundamental rule of law. Some people think this is not only the Hong Kong opposition and radical students’ practice run of “Occupy Central” but also Hong Kong officials’ rehearsal for handling “Occupy Central.”
Hong Kong society may be facing a period of political disturbance. In this type of situation it is important to support the primacy and effectiveness of Hong Kong’s laws. If Hong Kong’s rule of law is torn, there is a real possibility that Hong Kong could sink into a situation like Ukraine or Thailand, and in the future all sorts of crises could occur.
