 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 By Catherine LAI Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 8, 2019
As a tear gas canister clatters onto a street in Hong Kong, a pro-democracy protester wearing heat-proof gloves and carrying a traffic cone sprints from the crowd to put it out. Police have ramped up their use of the crowd control measure as two months of rallies in the global financial hub have turned increasingly violent, peaking with 800 rounds fired on Monday in what protesters called a "tear gas buffet". Hardcore demonstrators are responding with ever more creative methods to neutralise the threat, harnessing everything from traffic cones to kitchenware. Their arsenal includes several must-haves: heat-resistant gloves, so they can pick up searingly hot canisters, and respirators that have been dubbed "pig snouts" in Cantonese. Online forums host discussions on which models of 3M respirator filters work best against tear gas, and which local hardware stores still have the preferred models in stock. "I really need to get one! The good masks are already very hard to find on the street," wrote one commenter. On the streets, protesters compare notes on their equipment and offer tips. After police fired tear gas at protesters hurling bottles and bricks on Monday, one bystander gasped and rubbed his eyes, attracting the attention of a passing demonstrator who handed him a mask. "This one's not the good one but it will work," he said. "You've always got to carry one!" - Tactical response - Demonstrators have formed special "units" in charge of tackling tear gas, which leap into action as soon as a canister is fired. Some wrap their arms and legs in cling wrap to prevent the painful skin irritations that the gas and pepper spray can cause, and they carry saline to rinse the eyes of anyone affected. Canisters are sometimes picked up and lobbed back at police or extinguished straight away with water bottles. Some carry traffic cones, which can be popped on top of canisters to contain the gas before protesters douse them with water. Months of street battles against police have allowed protesters to develop a sophisticated response to crowd control techniques, said Tony Davis, a Bangkok-based security analyst with IHS Jane's. "What's happening in Hong Kong allows the protesters to learn and they're developing skills," he said. "They're becoming in a sense, an organised army, which they certainly weren't in the first phase." They might be an "army", but their equipment is mostly improvised, with one recent tool of choice coming straight from the kitchen. When police fired tear gas at residents in the working class neighbourhood of Wong Tai Sin, a local grabbed a cheap aluminium wok lid to snuff out the gas. The cooking lids have now become standard issue for some protesters -- part of an arsenal that also includes umbrellas and even swimming goggles to protect against pepper spray. While tear gas is a common crowd control method worldwide, it had rarely been seen in Hong Kong before the latest protest movement. Its use during the Occupy Central blockade of city streets in 2014, the city's last period of civil unrest, caused widespread outrage.
China warns Hong Kong protesters of 'dangerous abyss' Beijing (AFP) Aug 6, 2019 China warned Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters Tuesday that "those who play with fire will perish by it", a day after the most widespread unrest of the two-month crisis. In its harshest warning yet, Beijing said the immense strength of the central government should not be underestimated, while police in the semi-autonomous city announced they had arrested almost 150 people in connection with Monday's violence. The global financial center has been plunged into chaos by weeks of protests trigge ... read more
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Google
