Thousands Defy Anti-Mask Law and March in Hong Kong

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through central Hong Kong on Sunday wearing face masks in defiance of colonial-era emergency powers which threaten them with a year in prison for hiding their faces.

Hong Kong police were bracing for two major protests on Sunday, fearing a recurrence of Friday night’s violent protests which saw the Asian financial center virtually shut down on Saturday.

Only hours after Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam invoked emergency powers last used more than 50 years ago, mask-wearing protesters took to the streets on Friday, setting subway stations on fire, smashing mainland China banks and clashing with police.

“The anti-mask law just fuels our anger and more people will come on to the street,” Lee, a university student wearing a blue mask, said on Sunday.

“We are not afraid of the new law, we will continue fighting. We will fight for righteousness. I put on the mask to tell the government that I’m not afraid of tyranny.”

Hong Kong’s four months of protests has plunged the Chinese-ruled city into its worst political crisis in decades and poses the biggest popular challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power six years ago.

What started as opposition to a now-withdrawn extradition bill has morphed into a pro-democracy movement against what is seen as Beijing’s increasing grip on the city, undermining its “one country, two systems” status promised when Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997.

China dismisses the accusation, saying foreign governments, including Britain and the United States, have fanned anti-China sentiment.

Protesters on Sunday chanted “Hong Kongers, revolt” and “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.”

Riot police monitored protesters from overhead walkways and footbridges, some taking photos and filming the marchers.

Police fired tear gas at one rally, but there was no obvious reason as the rally at Pacific Place on Hong Kong island seemed peaceful, said a witness.

Some roads clogged with protesters resembled a field of flowers, with thousands of colorful umbrellas. Umbrellas are a symbol of an earlier pro-democracy movement, but on Sunday were being used simply to protect protesters from the rain.

Protesters handed out face masks to encourage all Hong Kongers to defy the ban.

Friday night’s “extreme violence” justified the use of the emergency law, Beijing-backed Lam said on Saturday.

The current “precarious situation,” which endangered public safety, left no timely solution but the anti-mask law, Matthew Cheung, Hong Kong’s chief secretary, wrote on social media on Sunday. He urged people to oppose violence ahead of grassroots district council elections set for Nov. 24.