Hong Kong Protesters Storm Legislative Council As Officials Mark Handover - NPR

Protesters dismantled part of the metal facade at the government's headquarters in Hong Kong on July 1 — the 22nd anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China. Vivek Prakash/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Vivek Prakash/AFP/Getty Images

Protesters charged Hong Kong's Legislative Council building Monday, shattering glass doors and tearing down a metal wall that is part of its façade. Monday's action, fueled by outrage at Beijing's attempts to put a new extradition law in place, coincides with the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from British to Chinese control.

"Tonight, the streets are boiling over with anger" both at Hong Kong's government and the central leadership in Beijing, NPR's Julie McCarthy reports.

Thousands of protesters hit the streets for the latest in a string of huge protests, nearly all of them wearing black clothes. Many marched peacefully or gathered in public parks. Many demonstrators wore yellow hard hats and face masks — protections against possible reprisals.

Some of the protesters targeted the building in Hong Kong's main government complex, overturning barriers and trying to ram their way through glass doors — which shattered and splintered but remained largely intact. Protesters then began attacking the dozens of tall, thin metal bars that make up a fence on the building's exterior wall.

Riot police stood just inside the building, holding weapons and promising to arrest anyone who entered, the South China Morning Post reports. They deployed pepper spray, according to witnesses.

The demonstrations effectively drowned out a celebration marking the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China. That event centered on a flag-raising ceremony — but the civic unrest forced officials to take the rare step of moving most of the celebration indoors, where leaders and VIPs watched as the flag was raised on TV, as the Morning Post reports.

In an earlier clash, police had redirected protesters who tried to march toward the celebration venue, according to The Associated Press.

Weeks of massive protests had already forced Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to apologize and suspend the extradition bill — which would allow Hong Kong people accused of certain crimes to be tried in mainland Chinese courts. But activists say that's not enough. Lacking faith in Beijing-backed Lam, they renewed calls for direct democracy in Hong Kong. As Lam spoke on Monday, she repeated her admission that she had not handled the legislation well.

The extradition flap has also fed concerns that Hong Kongers' civil liberties are being eroded to the same conditions that exist in mainland China.

"China has no freedom. And even Hong Kong now has no freedom," a 72-year-old protest supporter named Mrs. Luo told NPR's McCarthy. "They have lengthened their arms to Hong Kong."

Another protester spoke to Adrian Ma of member station WBUR. Megan Lee, 17, said she had not previously been politically minded — though the dispute over the extradition bill has changed that.

"There's more anger that builds up inside of me around these issues," Lee said. "And if I have a chance to express it, I feel like now is a chance to take that."

Ma reports that the young protester "says she wants to speak up now, because she's not sure she'll have the right to in the future."

As night fell, thousands of protesters kept marching in Hong Kong, holding their cellphones in the air and using the phone screens to light up the streets.

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