HONG KONG -- Supporters of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement lined city streets and part of the city's harbor front Friday, inspired by a human chain in a historic Baltic states protest against Soviet control 30 years ago.
Some raised linked hands while others switched on their smartphone lights and held the devices aloft to create a row of white lights against the nighttime skyline. Organizers hoped the chains, which traced three subway routes, would total 25 miles in length.
It was the latest protest in a nearly 11-week-old movement that began with calls to scrap a now-suspended extradition bill and has widened to include demands for full democracy and an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality at protests.
"It actually enraged me, the way that the government, the [city's] chief executive and then the police, how they carry out their jobs," said Michael Ng, who works in finance and joined the chain outside an upscale mall. "Very brutal, I would say. We are talking about human rights here."
Police say their use of tear gas, rubber bullets and beanbag rounds has been necessary to clear streets of protesters who have pelted them with eggs, bricks and gasoline bombs.
In a protest dubbed "The Baltic Way," nearly 2 million Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians formed a human chain more than 370 miles long on Aug. 23, 1989.
Organizers of "The Hong Kong Way" said it would be a show of solidarity against the extradition law and police violence, as well as a plea for international support.
Earlier Friday, accountants marched in support of the pro-democracy movement, while the Canadian Consulate banned its staff from leaving the city on official business after a British Consulate employee was detained in mainland China.
A major trade union confederation said that the head of the cabin crew union at Cathay Dragon airline had been fired in retaliation for supporting the movement, adding to the chill in the semiautonomous Chinese territory.
The Canadian Consulate didn't say whether the travel restriction for local staff was related to the recent detention of the British Consulate employee, Simon Cheng Man-kit. He had disappeared after going on a business trip to Shenzhen, a mainland city just across the border. Chinese police said he was released today after 15 days of administrative detention.
"At present, locally engaged staff will not undertake official business travel outside of Hong Kong," the Canadian Consulate said in a statement.
During a daily briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China respects Canada's decision, but countered it with a Confucius quote: "A gentleman is open and poised; a petty man is unhappy and worried."
Geng elaborated that those who are "aboveboard" will have their rights guaranteed in China, while people with "an ulterior motive to engage in illegal activities" may have to be "extremely cautious."
Before Cheng's release, the U.K.'s Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it had been urgently seeking further information about Cheng, who has worked for the consulate since December 2017 as an international trade and investment officer for the Scottish government.
"Neither we nor Simon's family have been able to speak to him since detention," the office said. "That is our priority and we continue to raise Simon's case repeatedly in China, Hong Kong and London and have sought to make contact with Simon himself."
China said this week that Cheng had been placed in administrative detention for 15 days for violating public order regulations. The Global Times, a Communist Party-owned tabloid newspaper, reported that Chen had been detained for soliciting prostitutes.
China often uses public order charges against political targets and has sometimes used the charge of soliciting prostitution.
Meanwhile, Rebecca Sy, the Cathay Dragon union head, told a news conference that the Hong Kong airline had dismissed her without giving a reason, but that the firing came after she was pulled from a flight and asked by an airline representative to confirm that screenshots from Facebook were from her account.
"It's not just about the termination of the job, it's also the whole issue, it's terrifying. All my colleagues are all terrified," she said. "I feel so sorry for them because I'm no longer in that position to protect them."
Cathay Dragon is owned by Hong Kong's main carrier, Cathay Pacific, which has come under pressure from Chinese authorities for employing people who support the protests. The company said in a statement that Sy's departure has nothing to do with her union activities.
The Canadian government updated its travel advice for China to warn of stepped-up border checks on smartphones, after reports that Chinese immigration officers were looking for protest-related photos.
Information for this article was contributed by Johnson Lai and Yanan Wang of The Associated Press.
A Section on 08/24/2019