Hong Kong protests: muted demonstrations, at least 4 arrested on anniversary of first major clash of 2019

Police deploy 2,000 officers across city amid calls for residents to rally, cordoning off streets and doing stop-and-searches in popular shopping district

Rallies were planned in 48 international cities to mark the June 12, 2019, protest outside the Legislative Council – the first major clash that year

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Shoppers in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay shopping district walk past a police cordon on Saturday. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 6:33pm, 12 Jun 2021Updated: 8:31am, 21 Jun 2021

At least four people were arrested as muted demonstrations by small, scattered groups marked the anniversary of the first major clash of Hong Kong’s 2019 anti-government protests amid a heavy police presence on the streets.

At about 9.30pm, police entered Langham Place in Mong Kok after they found about 20 people shouting slogans they said “might breach the national security law”. At least three males and one female aged between 15 and 19 were arrested for disorderly conduct in a public place and failing to provide proof of identity as of 11pm. Ten others were issued summonses for breaching Covid-19 social-distancing rules.

Dozens of officers also cordoned off several streets in the Kowloon neighbourhood and conducted stop-and-searches.

Earlier, hundreds of police officers filled the one-time protest hotspot of Causeway Bay, blocking off streets around the Sogo department store, while others were stationed around the entrances of the three major cross-harbour thoroughfares.

At 7pm, a small number of protesters heeded online calls to come out on the street to remember the previous demonstrations against the now-withdrawn extradition bill two years ago, although the crowds were far smaller than what was seen on June 4, when Hongkongers fanned out across the city to mark the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Near the Sogo department store, police officers kept asking those who stayed there to leave, making it impossible to form a gathering.