![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/1575808047491.jpg\" "\\"Protesters")
<\/div>Hong Kong – Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Hong Kong Island Sunday for a Human Rights Day march, the first major anti-government protest to be sanctioned by police in months.<\/p>\n
Black-clad demonstrators of all ages called attention to the unmet demands of the Hong Kong protests that have rocked the city for several months.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The march coincided with the six-month mark since over 1 million people first took to the streets against a now-defunct bill that would have allowed Hong Kong citizens to be extradited to mainland China.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is the first major demonstration since the pro-democracy camp won a landslide victory in district council elections at the end of last month.<\/p>\n
The march remained peaceful during the day, with riot police and water cannons on standby nearby. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
As night fell, tensions rose in Causeway Bay, near where the march began, and near its end in Central, as front-line protesters in full gear strayed from the approved route to set up makeshift barricades on adjacent streets. <\/p>\n
Police stated via Facebook that some “violent protesters” vandalised banks and shops in Causeway Bay and the nearby district Wan Chai.<\/p>\n
Demonstrators adopted creative means of expression; some played the protest anthem “Glory to Hong Kong” on the violin and ukulele, while dozens of\u00a0employees from a local radio station donned eclectic, homemade masks depicting\u00a0frogs and pigs\u00a0– both icons of the Hong Kong protests.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A masked protester named Brian Lai attributed the jubilant mood at the march to the elections, calling the outcome “a step towards democratic progress and a big cheer for protesters.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, a female protester called Chan said that she did not feel optimistic because there had been “no structural change within the government.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chan said that sanctions legislation like the US Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act is the only way to push for real change.<\/p>\n
“We do not have the authority to push them to listen to what we want, but … other countries can definitely impact Beijing or the presidency’s actions,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Hong Kong police arrested 11 people for “possession of a firearm without a licence.” It was the first time police had alleged that an illegal firearm was confiscated for intended use in a protest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Glock pistol and more than 100 bullets were seized during the operation. Organized crime and triad senior superintendent Li Kwai-wah said that two bulletproof vests, daggers, sabres, batons and pepper spray were also found.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The former British colony has been governed semi-autonomously since its return to China in 1997 on the principle of “one country, two systems.”<\/p>\n
It enjoys much greater freedoms than mainland China, but Hong Kong residents feel these are increasingly being eroded by the Communist government in Beijing.<\/p>\n
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# Notebook<\/p>\n
## Note to editors – updates to “hundreds of thousands” – and hrs long status – ads tension with police – remains peaceful<\/p>\n
* * * * The following information is not intended for publication<\/p>\n
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## Editorial contacts – Reporting by:\u00a0Viola Gaskell in Hong Kong – Editing by: Ivonne Marschall – Tel: +49 30 2852 31472;
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