Thousands of protesters marched in Hong Kong on Sunday, demanding that China’s central government stay out of a political dispute in the southern Chinese city after Beijing indicated that it would intervene to deter pro-independence advocates.

The dispute centers on a provocative display of anti-China sentiment by two newly elected pro-independence Hong Kong lawmakers at their swearing-in ceremony last month.

China’s top legislative panel said that Beijing must intervene to deter advocates of independence for Hong Kong, calling their actions a threat to national security. The Standing Committee of China’s rubber-stamp legislature said in a statement that Beijing could not afford to do nothing in the face of challenges in Hong Kong to China’s authority, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Saturday.

On Sunday, thousands of people marched in downtown Hong Kong to voice their opposition to China’s plan to step in, saying the move would undermine the city’s considerable autonomy and independent judiciary.

Several thousand people gathered in the evening to protest outside Beijing’s liaison office. Police used pepper spray on demonstrators amid some scuffling.

Some protesters wore face masks and hoisted open umbrellas in the air — symbols that were reminiscent of student-led pro-democracy demonstrations in 2014 that blocked key Hong Kong streets and attracted global attention.

Helmeted police officers with shields stood in several rows, creating a blockade against the protesters. “Open the road! Open the road!” the demonstrators chanted, as police warned them not to charge.

Demonstrators held signs reading “Defend the rule of law” and calling for the city’s Beijing-backed chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, to step down.

Some said that if China’s top legislative panel issued its own interpretation on oath-taking, it would effectively undermine a Hong Kong court’s ongoing review of the case.

“In (the) long run, that will damage our confidence in the court,” said Alvin Yeung, a legislator. “That will, in the long run, damage the international investors’ (confidence) in Hong Kong’s stability and the rule of law, and of course how our court functions.”

The legislative panel in Beijing said the words and actions of the two Hong Kong lawmakers — Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching — “posed a grave threat to national sovereignty and security,” Xinhua reported.

If such a situation were to persist, the Standing Committee said, it would hurt the interests of Hong Kong’s residents and China’s progress. “The central government cannot sit idly and do nothing,” it said.

The statement followed discussions by the committee on issuing an interpretation of an article in Hong Kong’s constitution, known as the Basic Law, that covers oaths taken by lawmakers.

Leung, 30, and Yau, 25, who are from the radical Youngspiration party, altered their oaths to insert a disparaging Japanese term for China. Displaying a flag reading “Hong Kong is not China,” they vowed to defend the “Hong Kong nation.” Leung crossed his fingers, while Yau used the F-word in her pledge.

Their oaths were ruled invalid, but attempts at a do-over have resulted in mayhem in the legislature’s weekly sessions.

Saturday’s comments indicated that the Standing Committee intended to use its interpretation of the article to send a strong message against separatism — and could ultimately lead to the democratically elected lawmakers’ disqualification from office.

Such an outcome would be favorable to China’s Communist leaders, who are alarmed by the former British colony’s burgeoning independence movement, but is also likely to plunge their troubled relationship into fresh turmoil.

Maria Tam, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress, told reporters in Beijing on Saturday that the Standing Committee has the “final say” on the dispute, and that Hong Kong’s highest court would accept the panel’s interpretation as binding.</s>Police said in total four people were arrested, including two men and a woman, aged from 39 to 65, for allegedly obstructing police officers. League of Social Democrats chairman Avery Ng Man-yuen said on his Facebook account that he was among the arrested and had been released on bail.

Two officers were injured during the incident. One hurt his or her hand and another officer was hurt in the leg by bricks thrown by protesters. It is understood the officer with a leg wound was injured at Ko Shing Street in Sheung Wan.

Watch: Hong Kong police clash with protesters

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Police said no information was available on whether any protesters had been injured.

By 1am Monday, at least 700 officers were deployed to the site, with several hundred more on standby, a police source told the Post. Officers charged at demonstraters, forcing them to leave the area.

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Broken umbrellas outside the liaison office on Monday morning. Photo: Dickson Lee Share:

The calm near the office later Monday morning stood in contrast with the violence of the wee hours. Photo: Dickson Lee Share:

In face of the “unfavourable situation”, Demosisto, Student Fight for Democracy, the League of Social Democrats and the Labour Party announced that the rally was over and urged protesters to depart to “avoid sacrifice”.

Officers pushing protesters back. Photo: Edward Wong Share:

At 2am, to clear the remaining protesters, a squad of about 40 officers equipped with batons actively chased rally participants from Wilmer Street to Bonham Strand West. After the chase, the majority of the remaining protesters dispersed.

Officers with shields and helmets were responsible for surrounding the protesters. Photo: K.Y. Cheng Share:

From 2.15am to 2.50am, police tried to get people off the main roads and onto the sidewalks. A few stragglers remained, including an elderly woman who sat in the middle of the road for another half an hour before she packed up and left.

At 2.55am, traffic partially resumed on Des Voeux Road. Cabs and light buses were seen driving into the area. At 3.05am, most of the police officers were dismissed. At 3.07am, traffic on Des Voeux Road went back to normal.

Sixtus Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching at the scene. Photo: Edward Wong Share:

Basic Law The trouble began after Hongkongers opposed to an interpretation of theby Beijing’s top lawmaking body took to the streets for the second time in less than a week to voice their anger with the central government.

At least 13,000 people, many dressed in black and waving colonial-era flags, joined the event, which began at 3pm on Sunday in Wan Chai, according to organisers. But police put the figure at 8,000.

Watch: Police clear protesters at Western Police Station

Officers engaged in scuffles with some demonstrators after they marched to the liaison office from Wan Chai in a departure from the original plan for the protest, which was supposed to end at the Court of Final Appeal in Central.

At about 7.50pm, policeon Connaught Road West deployed pepper spray multiple times against protesters during a stand-off which saw masked demonstrators charge police barricades.

The crowds had for about 45 minutes been urging the police to open sections of the road to the protesters, who had been confined to the pavement. Officers refused, but in the ensuing chaos protesters spilled into one of two traffic lanes.

Some tried to bring down the barricades while others attempted to climb over them.

After repeated verbal warnings and the display of a red warning banner, police fired pepper spray.

Many ran for cover, while others used umbrellas and protest banners as shields. Those sprayed in the face had their eyes rinsed by fellow protesters. Several people were then seen being taken away.

Lo Wing-kei, 22, one of the protesters who was pepper sprayed by police, said she could still feel her face burning four hours after the scuffle.

“It happened in front of the liaison office [on Connaught Road],” she said. “More than 20 people got sprayed.”

“We were just protesting in the spot where people usually protest. But then the police started setting up fences to force people out.”

Protesters run for cover after several police officers use their pepper spray on the crowd. Photo: Paul Yeung Share:

By 9pm the confrontation had spread from the main entrance of the liaison office to its rear, bringing traffic on a section of Des Voeux Road West to a standstill.

Officers in helmets again used pepper spray while protesters shielded themselves with umbrellas.

Traffic on both sides of the building was paralysed.

At 9.50pm the stand-off was still under way. In an attempt to clear the road for traffic, police repeatedly urged protesters to leave the site using announcements through a loudspeaker, which went unheeded.

An unidentified man attempted to act as a representative for the protesters in an effort to negotiate with police.

The University of Hong Kong’s student union offered its offices at the Pok Fu Lam campus as a temporary shelter for any student protesters in need.

By 10.30pm a third battle line was forming near Sai Ying Pun station’s B3 exit. Police said protesters had been rushing the exit and officers would shut it down. Two dozen officers with shields were seen nearby.

The MTR announced all Island Line trains would not stop at Sai Ying Pun station and that all entrances to the station would be closed.

Tse Kwok-wai, police senior superintendent for the Hong Kong Island regional headquarters, urged protesters to disperse as soon as possible during a media briefing at 10.20pm.

He said some had been seen holding bamboo sticks and bricks, and he urged them not to use such items as weapons.

But he stopped short of saying if or when police would clear the area around the liaison office.

A police source said officers were notified that some bricks had been dug out from the pavement by several people on Des Voeux Road West between 8pm and 9pm. The protesters left when officers arrived.

Police use pepper spray against a group of protesters near the central government’s liaison office. Photo: K. Y. Cheng Share:

Two men aged 39 and 57 were arrested for allegedly obstructing police officers from carrying out their duties and failing to produce ID cards. One of the arrested men was reported to be Avery Ng Man-yuen from the League of Social Democrats.

At 10.45pm about 400 officers had been deployed to handle the protesters, with hundreds more on standby including elite “raptor” officers.

Police estimated there were more than 200 protesters on site.

“Police will remove them even if they stage a peaceful sit-in to block traffic,” a police source said.

“They will be removed immediately if they use violence and charge police cordons.”

About 12.30am officers came down Western Street from Queen’s Road. Along with the personnel already deployed on Des Voeux Road, they began forcing protesters out of the intersection between Western Street and Des Voeux Road.

While some protesters started throwing bottles at police, the majority of the crowd slowly moved eastward on Des Voeux Road.

The rally organisers, including Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching – the localist duo at the centre of the controversy – as well as lawmaker Nathan Law, announced that protesters should move towards Central.

Police pepper-spray protesters near the liaison office. Photo: K. Y. Cheng Share:

Leung said:“We are surrounded by police from many sides. And we are literally in front of the Western Police Station. Staying here won’t benefit us.”

Law said, “We are here to express our dissatisfaction with NPC’s decision to reinterpret [the Basic Law]. I think we have accomplished it tonight. We are currently in unfavourable position, geographically. I suggest we leave now.”

Yau said: “I suggest we continue the rally but in the ‘wild cat’ style. Everyone can do it his way.”

Watch: Raymond Yeung’s report from the standoff outside Western Police Station

Police tactical officers wearing helmets and shields were responsible for surrounding the protesters, while officers in blue uniform (nicknamed “raptors”) from the counterterrorism and airport special unit were responsible for dispersing protesters and arresting and subduing those who put up resistance.

Those identified as trouble-makers were also targets for arrest.

In a briefing at 2am, senior superintendent Tse said police could step up their actions if protesters refused to stop their “violent acts” and leave the scene in an orderly way. Tse also said some protesters had dug up bricks from the ground and attacked officers.

An officer sustained a bleeding wound on her leg and was hospitalised. The incident took place near Ko Shing Street.

Demonstrators and police clash on Connaught Road West in Central after a 45-minute stand-off. Photo: K. Y. Cheng Share:

The rally had begun on a more peaceful note earlier in the day. At 3.30pm, participants started marching from Southorn Playground with the aim of making their way to the Court of Final Appeal in Central.

Event organiser Civil Human Rights Front claimed 1,600 people took part in a similar rally it organised on Wednesday evening. Police put that turnout much lower at 750.

Watch: Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching at protest march

participated on Sunday, as did other members defend Hong Kong’s core values Baggio Leung and Yauof their party Youngspiration. The group urged people to take to the streets and

“While not everyone agrees with how Leung and Yau took their oaths, an interpretation [of the Basic Law] and the demise of the separation of powers will affect Hong Kong’s economic prosperity, stability as well as people’s livelihood,” a leaflet handed out at the event read.

Protesters on the move on Hong Kong Island. Photo: K. Y. Cheng Share:

As protesters gathered earlier on Sunday, the mood was subdued and the police presence was light, with a few arguments breaking out.

The marchers were joined in spirit by fellow Hongkongers residing in Britain who planned to stage a demonstration outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London at 2pm local time to denounce Beijing’s “most blatant violation” of one country, two systems.

National People’s Congress “TheStanding Committee’s interpretation is not solely a domestic matter of Hong Kong,” a rally spokesperson said. “It also jeopardises the conditions laid down in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, an international treaty.”

An elderly man (right) confronts rally participants on Sunday. Photo: Raymond Yeung Share:

The spokesperson demanded the British government stop “kowtowing to the Chinese Communist Party” and re-examine Beijing’s compliance with the declaration.

Leung Chun-ying Meanwhile, Youngspiration again lashed out at Chief Executive, accusing him of using the oath row as a political tool to advance his motives.

launched a judicial review The city’s leader hasin his own name against a decision by Legislative Council president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen to allow the Youngspiration duo to take their oaths again.

But a forthcoming ruling by the city’s High Court could now be overshadowed by an interpretation by the Standing Committee, which could come as early as Monday morning.

Yau Wai-ching and Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang at the event in Wan Chai on Sunday. Photo: K. Y. Cheng Share:

The Xinhua news agency revealed that Beijing’s top legislative body would “point out the direction in how problems arising from the Legislative Council election” should be handled.

The whole controversy escalated ... after the central government decided to step in Chris Cheung, protester

But protest participant Chris Cheung, 23, described Beijing’s ability to interpret the Basic Law as a loophole in the city’s judicial system that needed to be closed.

“We can’t totally blame Yau and Leung,” the student said of the localist lawmakers. “The whole controversy escalated in a short span of time only after the central government decided to step in.”

A number of families also attended the march on Sunday. A father who would only identify himself as “Ben” brought his two children.

“We disagree with [Yau and Leung’s] actions, but why should Beijing shut the door so fast when the court was still handling the judicial review?” he asked.

He said if the Youngspiration duo were ousted, it would be a great injustice to voters who had cast their ballots for them.</s>The comments in the People's Daily come ahead of what is expected to effectively be a ruling by Beijing on the fate of two newly elected Hong Kong legislators who pledged allegiance to the "Hong Kong nation" and displayed a "Hong Kong is not China" banner when they attempted to take office in October.

Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese control in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula that gave the territory wide-ranging autonomy, including judicial freedom.

The oath-taking incident made waves in the former colony, where the topic of independence from China was once regarded as taboo but has come to the fore since months of pro-democracy protests in 2014 failed to secure any concessions from Beijing.

State news agency Xinhua said on Saturday that leaders of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, had begun to review a "draft interpretation" of part of Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, over the weekend. The article requires Hong Kong legislators and other officials to swear allegiance to "the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China" when assuming office.

The parliamentary meeting ends on Monday, Xinhua said.

The People's Daily editorial said calls for independence by the Hong Kong lawmakers-elect and others were an insult to China and violation of the national constitution and the Basic Law.

Such action "seriously touches the bottom line of 'one country, two systems', endangers national unity, territorial integrity and national security, jeopardizes the nation's core interests and the basic interests of the majority of Hong Kong residents, and is vile in nature," it said.

"The heart of the issue is that anyone who splits the nation or promotes 'Hong Kong independence' is directly violating the constitution, the Basic Law and related Hong Kong laws, and is unqualified to stand for election or hold public office provided for in the Basic Law," the newspaper added.

An interpretation of the Basic Law by the NPC Standing Committee would be completely legal, "extremely timely, extremely necessary, of great importance and have far-reaching effect," it said.

The NPC Standing Committee has interpreted the Basic Law four times since 1997, including once when neither the city government nor its courts requested it.

After the abortive swearing-in of Yau Wai-ching, 25, and Baggio Leung, 30, Hong Kong's chief executive filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent another ceremony for them taking place.

Hong Kong's High Court struck down that request but approved a judicial review of the pair's membership of the legislature.

The Hong Kong Bar Association has said an intervention by Beijing now, as a local court was hearing the case, would deal a "severe blow" to the city's judicial independence and undermine international confidence in Hong Kong's autonomy. (Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Catherine Evans)</s>China says it must act to deter Hong Kong separatism

Maria Tam, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress speaks to the media in Beijing, China, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016. Beijing plans to intervene in a Hong Kong political dispute over two young, newly elected separatist lawmakers in a rare move that is stoking fears the Chinese-ruled city's considerable autonomy and independent judiciary are under threat. Tam told reporters that the NPC has the "final say" on the dispute and that Hong Kong's highest court would accept the NPC interpretation as binding.

BEIJING — Beijing must intervene in a Hong Kong political dispute to deter advocates of independence for the city, China's top legislative panel said, calling their actions a threat to national security.

The Standing Committee of China's rubberstamp legislature, the National People's Congress, said in a statement that Beijing could not afford to do nothing in the face of challenges in Hong Kong to China's authority, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Saturday.

The dispute in Hong Kong centers on a provocative display of anti-China sentiment by two pro-independence lawmakers, Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching, at their swearing-in ceremony last month.

The legislative panel said the two Hong Kong lawmakers' words and actions "posed a grave threat to national sovereignty and security," Xinhua said.

If such a situation were to persist, the committee said, it would hurt the interests of Hong Kong's residents and the country's progress. "The central government cannot sit idly and do nothing," it said.

The statement followed discussions by the top legislative panel on issuing an interpretation of an article in Hong Kong's constitution, known as the Basic Law, that covers oaths taken by lawmakers.

Leung and Yau of the radical Youngspiration party altered their oaths to insert a disparaging Japanese term for China. Displaying a flag reading "Hong Kong is not China," they vowed to defend the "Hong Kong nation." Leung crossed his fingers while Yau used the F-word in her pledge.

Their oaths were ruled invalid but attempts at a do-over have resulted in mayhem in the legislature's weekly sessions.

Saturday's comments indicated the panel intended to use its interpretation of the article to send a strong message against separatism — and could ultimately lead to the democratically elected lawmakers' disqualification from office.

Such an outcome would be favorable to China's Communist leaders, who are alarmed by the former British colony's burgeoning independence movement, but is also likely to plunge their troubled relationship into fresh turmoil.

Maria Tam, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress, told reporters in Beijing on Saturday that the legislative panel has the "final say" on the dispute and that Hong Kong's highest court would accept the panel's interpretation as binding.</s>BEIJING (AP) — Beijing must intervene in a Hong Kong political dispute to deter advocates of independence for the city, China’s top legislative panel said, calling their actions a threat to national security.

The Standing Committee of China’s rubberstamp legislature, the National People’s Congress, said in a statement that Beijing could not afford to do nothing in the face of challenges in Hong Kong to China’s authority, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Saturday.

The dispute in Hong Kong centers on a provocative display of anti-China sentiment by two pro-independence lawmakers, Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching, at their swearing-in ceremony last month.

The legislative panel said the two Hong Kong lawmakers’ words and actions “posed a grave threat to national sovereignty and security,” Xinhua said.

If such a situation were to persist, the committee said, it would hurt the interests of Hong Kong’s residents and the country’s progress. “The central government cannot sit idly and do nothing,” it said.

The statement followed discussions by the top legislative panel on issuing an interpretation of an article in Hong Kong’s constitution, known as the Basic Law, that covers oaths taken by lawmakers.

Leung and Yau of the radical Youngspiration party altered their oaths to insert a disparaging Japanese term for China. Displaying a flag reading “Hong Kong is not China,” they vowed to defend the “Hong Kong nation.” Leung crossed his fingers while Yau used the F-word in her pledge.

Their oaths were ruled invalid but attempts at a do-over have resulted in mayhem in the legislature’s weekly sessions.

Saturday’s comments indicated the panel intended to use its interpretation of the article to send a strong message against separatism — and could ultimately lead to the democratically elected lawmakers’ disqualification from office.

Such an outcome would be favorable to China’s Communist leaders, who are alarmed by the former British colony’s burgeoning independence movement, but is also likely to plunge their troubled relationship into fresh turmoil.

Maria Tam, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress, told reporters in Beijing on Saturday that the legislative panel has the “final say” on the dispute and that Hong Kong’s highest court would accept the panel’s interpretation as binding.
In Hong Kong, police clash with protesters after more than 10,000 locals march against the Chinese government interpretation of the Basic Law in the Legislative Council oath-taking controversy.