Hong Kong's entire mass transit rail system was suspended on Saturday after a night of violence sparked by a ban on pro-democracy protesters wearing face masks, as the government imposed emergency powers not used in more than half a century.
After widespread overnight arson attacks, looting, fighting with police and beatings, the government on Saturday called on the public to swing behind it in condemning the increasingly violent protests.
John Lee, the government's security secretary, says by not condemning violence, people are stoking it. The MTR transport network has suspended all its services, including the rail line to Hong Kong international airport.
The widespread clashes and vows of defiance intensified after Yuen Long, a 14-year-old boy was reportedly shot and wounded.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she made the order under the Emergency Regulations Ordinances —a sweeping colonial-era provision that allows her to bypass the legislature and make any law during a time of emergency or public danger.
"We believe that the new law will create a deterrent effect against masked violent protesters and rioters, and will assist the police" in law enforcement, Lam said on Friday.
It was unclear if that round was fired by plainclothes policemen. Suspension of the subway network left protesters, locals and Friday night revellers stranded.
As the city awoke on Saturday, train services remained in lockdown.
“The current chaos in Hong Kong cannot continue indefinitely,” Yang Guang, spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of China's central government, said.
“It is ironic that a colonial-era weapon is being used by the Hong Kong government and the Chinese Communist Party,” he added. The emergency law was last invoked during riots in 1967.
The powerful US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi commented that ban on the masks “only intensifies concerns about freedom of expression”.
Hong Kong's protests began with people opposing a law that allowed extraditions to the mainland. The bill has now been scrapped, but, the protests have turned into a pro-democracy movement, where people want Beijing to respect the liberties promised under “one country, two systems”. They also want Chief Executive Carrie Lam to step down and for an independent inquiry into use for unwarranted force by the police to control the protests.
