Hong Kong police have permitted a small protest march under tight restrictions in one of the first demonstrations to be approved since the enactment of a sweeping national security law in 2020.
Some criticized the restrictions on their protest, which included limiting the number of participants to 100, according to a seven-page letter from the police to organizers, seen by Reuters. Applications for other protests, including a candlelit vigil on June 4 to commemorate the victims of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, have been denied on grounds related to COVID social distancing.
Some Western governments have criticized the law as a tool of repression but Chinese authorities say it has restored stability to the financial hub. Political observers and some Western diplomats are watching to see if authorities will allow a resumption of major demonstrations in Hong Kong, namely on June 4 and July 1, which had been a mainstay of the city’s once vibrant civil society scene and attracted thousands of people.
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