In Hong Kong, more than 9.2 thousand people were detained in connection with anti-government protests that began in June last year after amendments to the extradition law. This was announced on Thursday, July 30, by the Chinese Special Administrative Region police.
“As of June 30, 2020, 9,216 people were … 3,725 (or 40.4% of those detained) were students,” RIA Novosti quotes a statement.
Already 1972 people were brought to justice, 653 of them – for crimes related to riots.
Mass protests sparked by the consideration of the extradition bill have taken place in Hong Kong since early June 2019. After large-scale protests, the Hong Kong authorities made concessions and on September 4, the head of the Hong Kong administration, Carrie Lam, announced the withdrawal of the bill. In early October, the bill was completely withdrawn. Nevertheless, the protests did not stop, they became fewer, but more violent. For six months, over 900 demonstrations, marches and protests have taken place in Hong Kong.
China’s National Security Law came into force on June 30. It identifies four types of crimes in Hong Kong that are considered a threat to statehood: separatist activities, attempts to undermine state power, terrorist activities, colluding with foreign states or forces in order to endanger national security.