A teen protester was shot and there were several live rounds fired during a series of Hong Kong Demonstrations on October 1, which marred National Day commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
A Hong Kong police officer on Tuesday shot a teenage demonstrator, the first time in months of protests that a live round was fired at a protester. The shooting capped an evening of violent protests, escalating the territory’s political crisis on the same day that the central government staged a huge military parade in Beijing to celebrate 70 years of Communist control.The protesters in Hong Kong hoped to upstage Beijing’s celebrations by holding their own unauthorized marches. Violence quickly broke out, as demonstrators in districts across the city engaged in some of the bloodiest and most sustained clashes since protesters began taking to the streets in early June.
Considering the Hong Kong residents referred to one event as a “Grief March”, there is a sense that the city was not quite down with the celebration.
An 18-year-old protester was hit in the chest by a live bullet fired from close range by a police officer in Tsuen Wan, while exchanges of tear gas and petrol bombs took place in at least 13 parts of the city .Protesters on a massive banned “national grief” march from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to Central appeared intent on continuing their journey toward Beijing’s liaison office in Sai Ying Pun, but clashes broke out soon after.
The celebrations at the Chinese capital were quite different.
Meanwhile, officials in the Chinese capital were rejoicing over seven decades of Communist (i.e., totalitarian) control. Beijing’s leaders, including President Xi Jinping, sat overlooking Tiananmen Square — the site of a bloody crackdown 30 years ago — watching a 15,000-troop military parade show off a new ballistic missile. That was followed by a civilian parade, fireworks and musical and cultural performances.“We must remain committed to the strategy of peaceful reunification and ‘One Country, Two Systems,’ ” said Xi, regarding Hong Kong. “No force can shake the status of this great nation.”That is, don’t mess with us, protesters.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong businesses are cleaning up the debris and bracing for even more protests.
Many stores and business had closed on Tuesday after demonstrators vowed to seize the opportunity on China’s National Day to propel their calls for greater democracy onto the international stage.The protests have plunged the former British colony into its biggest political crisis in decades and pose the gravest popular challenge to President Xi Jinping since he came to power.
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