Dozens of people on Sunday joined Hong Kong's first authorized protest since the lifting of major Covid 19 restrictions under unprecedentedly strict rules, including wearing a numbered badge around their necks.
The police, who were cited for security reasons, said the financial hub was promoting its return to normalcy after years of anti-virus controls and political turmoil.
During the pandemic, protests were rare due to Covid 19 restrictions. Many activists have been silenced or jailed after Beijing imposed a national security law after a massive protest in 2019. Critics say the freedom of assembly promised to Hong Kong when it returned to China from Britain in 1997 has been eroded.
Sunday s demonstration against the proposed reclamation and construction of rubbish-processing facilities was the first police-approved march of its kind after the city scrapped its mask mandate and social distancing limits.
The organizers had to comply with police requirements such as taking measures to ensure the number of participants would not exceed the expected turnout of 100 people, and asking for proof of a reasonable excuse from protesters who wore masks during the event.
The government of Hong Kong invoked emergency powers to ban masks from public gatherings to identify protesters who have been accused of illegal acts at the height of the 2019 anti-government movement.
The organizers said about 80 people expressed their opposition to the plans in Tseung Kwan O, a residential and industrial area. They had to walk in a cordoned-off moving line in the rain amid heavy police presence.
Theresa Wang described the new restrictions as a bit weird but said they were still acceptable because the city was adjusting to the new Hong Kong. I am not happy, but we have to accept it. The 70-year-old retiree said we have to accept what is deemed legal now, and that she hopes that the protest will be a sign that the government is more open to discussion.
Protester Jack Wong said he would prefer not to wear the badge printed with a number. The requirement was set to prevent lawbreakers from joining the march.
What should I say if it is a requirement? He said you know what I mean.
In granting its approval, police also requested that organizers not be involved in any acts that could endanger national security, including displaying anything seditious.
Cyrus Chan, one of the march organizers, said demonstrators had communicated with police on their promotional materials and slogans. He said that officers told him that participants should not wear all-black outfits. During the 2019 protests, protesters wore black.
It is definitely strict, Chan said. We hope this is just an individual case. We hope to show them that Hong Kong society has the ability to have peaceful marches and that they do not need to set that many conditions to restrict us. The Hong Kong Women Workers Association planned a march to call for labor and women's rights earlier this month, but canceled it at the last moment without specifying why.
Days later, the association said on its Facebook page that police had invited it for further meetings after granting it the approval, and that it had tried its best to amend the agreement. It wrote at that time that it could not launch the protest as it wanted.
A pro-democracy group said the national security police had warned four of its members not to participate in the association's march.