So, like many people in Hong Kong tonight, I was stuck on the wrong side of the water. Practically subway lines are shut down, roads blocked, taxis sparse. Some locals offered a ride. This isn’t unusual—there is a network of citizens ferrying protesters and press around.
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(Threading back lost tweets 4).https://twitter.com/zeynep/status/1179390499775488000 …
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Back to updates. Today, two more people imprisoned for their role in the Umbrella Movement in 2014 completed their prison sentences. That movement was completely peaceful and merely demanded universal suffrage. Ended with no concessions and jailed leaders.https://twitter.com/KongTsungGan/status/1179608235487068162 …
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And the high school student who was shot in the chest by the Hong Kong police has been charged with “rioting” which is a potential 10 year sentence here.https://twitter.com/karenklcheung/status/1179614953596051456 …
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Hong Kong may be planning to ban masks—exposing everyone including journalists to teargas. More importantly though, they may do this by invoking a very old colonial law to completely bypass legislative limits and authoritize anything they want. See thread.https://twitter.com/jerometaylor/status/1179692295580307457 …
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Barricades have gone up and the road remains blocked by protesters at Tai Koo Station. Earlier, the protesters reportedly chased of the riot police. Hong Kong is now having nightly protests. For Tai Koo context, see: https://twitter.com/xinqisu/status/1179725546759962624 …pic.twitter.com/XjeBha1yP5
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Well the police have shown back up in the whole place is drenched in teargas. The residents at a nearby apartment complex have opened doors and are taking people in. As usual tons of people without masks are caught in the teargas.pic.twitter.com/csV2y1p28R
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A barrage of tear gas versus umbrellas. A canonical Hong Kong protest. (This is a middle class neighborhood—and I witnessed how the protesters were taken in by many residents).https://twitter.com/mikaljakubal/status/1179811206065872896 …
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In what has become a daily occurrence in Hong Kong, thousands are marching in Central. This is the fourth month of this movement, and people are still showing up in large numbers.
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It seems the Hong Kong executive will use a 98-year old colonial law to declare, in essence, a state of emergency that gives it unlimited powers, bypassing the legislative, and will kick it off with a mask ban. Remember SARS?
Masks are very common here.https://twitter.com/maryhui/status/1179991987056852992 …
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As the news of the emergency powers spreads (it was airdropped to my phone), protesters block the road at the corner of... Louis Vuitton and Armani. It’s kind of surreal: protests are routinely held at the high-end shopping district (close also to government headquarters).pic.twitter.com/czk92SUo4r
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Hong Kong mask ban can be retroactively applied for a year but journalists are exempt. What’s the stop thousands of people just showing up and yellow vests, with lanyards announcing they are freelancers for LIKHG? https://twitter.com/rthk_enews/status/1180019048412635137 …
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Today, hundreds stayed after the flash mob rally behind block Des Voeux at Central. It’s been hours, and now students are joining in. Following the news of the mask ban, people are going around handing out masks. And I heard a new chant: “Hongkongers rise up.”
#HongKongProstestspic.twitter.com/nfvO8DYTg7
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And the protesters pulled down and set the banner on fire. The protest has grown as people leave work and join. Many rallies around Hong Kong have been announced. Raw anger in the air. Many new chants. Feels like a turning point.https://twitter.com/pinboard/status/1180055305222262785 …
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I climbed a pedestrian bridge to see the ends of this march. I can’t. Also, many businesses in Hong Kong close during protests. But not McDonalds. It stays open through even the worst teargas. I’ve seen this in multiple neighborhoods. So now, I like Pepe and Mcdonalds.
pic.twitter.com/BkfpADX3ht
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Few hours before the mask ban goes into effect in Hong Kong, thousands have gathered around the legislative council, the site of the Umbrella Movement five years ago. More arriving, many clearly coming straight from work, in office clothes. Ads have been altered accordingly.
pic.twitter.com/ZTuXmQW7dF
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Causeway Bay. Chanting “Hongkongers, rise up.” It’s a new slogan.pic.twitter.com/5zmoMw5DOA
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Another Hong Kong protester appears to have been shot.
In the Hong Kong island side, it’s only firefighters operating so far, the police have stayed away. (Protesters do start fires but also clear the way for fire engines and applaud them).https://twitter.com/xinqisu/status/1180119820479520769 …Show this thread -
I spoke too soon! A line with 30 and riot police appeared near wan chai MTR. Literally within 30 seconds the crowd I was with—thousands—disappeared into the side streets. “Be watering”. A young woman came out of a restaurant there and yelled “triads” (gangsters) at them.pic.twitter.com/Faqt3B0xSQ
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The police above were joined by another 100 riot police and maybe five raptors. But everyone here is long gone. The police are also leaving in the other direction. Hong Kong’s political crisis has been outsourced to the police and it’s not really working.
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Hong Kong, the city that doesn’t need any step tracking apps. I end up walking 7 to 10 hours some days as transit shuts down routinely now. (August 31 was the turning point for that.) https://twitter.com/lwcalex/status/1180133651691868161 …
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The attempt to overturn the mask ban in courts has failed. The law goes into effect now: a year in jail for wearing a mask. HK island protests largely dispersed via "be water" but Kowloon still active. (I left as I won't be interviewing under the conditions about to happen).
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A Hong Kong legislator says as of midnight one country, two systems is over. Seeing a lot of commentary to that effect: "Hong Kong has fallen".https://twitter.com/charlesmok/status/1180151078387503104 …
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The mask ban has started. However, they don't really use facial recognition software here (though some protesters mention it as a potential future concern). The threat is about old-fashioned recognition (by humans!) and legal and personal consequences.https://twitter.com/derekbruff/status/1180195754591150080 …
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This morning in Hong Kong the whole subway line (the city runs on it! Normally, it's amazing) and many malls (Hong Kong's quasi-public spaces) are closed. Virtual lock-down, but many protests are scheduled. I suspect many will walk, as usual. https://twitter.com/pakwayne/status/1180282846470012929 …
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A bewilderingly common sentiment among the so-called left. People are marching into live fire in Iraq (dozens dead), protesting IMF austerity in Ecuador, putting everything on the line in Hong Kong and somehow US/UK is behind it (via mind control?).https://twitter.com/DrumEQ/status/1180291644303785985 …
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It's not left to look at people risking so much—their very lives—to fight corruption and authoritarianism and see the NED or UK. It's racist and dehumanizing. Neither Hongkongers nor Iraqis are stupid puppets so easily manipulated to risk their lives because of NED powerpoints.
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An analysis of the government’s gamble that’s underlying the Hong Kong’s mask ban. https://twitter.com/comparativist/status/1180434360702386176 …
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First day of the mask ban in Hong Kong, and the police are tackling a young couple in the middle of Central. I don’t think the ban is even valid people in groups less than 30. The arbitrariness of implementation ans fear may well be the goal. https://twitter.com/lwcalex/status/1180437985747066880 …
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Candidates in Hong Kong (who are allowed to run for what limited seats are elected) are pretty clearly signaling their stance—fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong. (Yes I’m back for a bit!)pic.twitter.com/N8GeJ6s4Tv
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