Hong Kong: Protesters clash with police over delayed elections

2020-09-06 18:06:48

Police in Hong Kong have fired pepper-spray balls at crowds protesting against a government decision to delay legislative elections in the territory. Nearly 300 people were arrested at Sunday's unauthorised demonstration. The elections had been due on 6 September, but the government postponed them by a year saying it was necessary amid a rise in coronavirus infections. The opposition is accusing the government of using the pandemic as a pretext to stop people from voting. Opposition activists had hoped to obtain a majority in the Legislative Council (LegCo), capitalising on anger at Beijing's imposition of a controversial national security law in Hong Kong, and fears that the territory's freedoms are being eroded. Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed back to China in 1997 under an agreement meant to guarantee a high degree of autonomy for 50 years. Pro-democracy candidates had made unprecedented gains in last year's district council elections, winning 17 out of 18 councils.