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Protests against a bill allowing people to be extradited for trial in mainland China have become increasingly violent as police are accused of excessive use of force and failing to protect protesters from alleged gang attacks.

Hong Kong:

Thousands of civil servants participated in anti-government protests in Hong Kong on Friday for the first time since they began two months ago, defying the authorities ' warning to remain politically neutral.

Protests against a bill allowing people to be extradited for trial in mainland China have become increasingly violent as police are accused of excessive use of force and failing to protect protesters from alleged gang attacks.

Encouraging the singers, the crowd mobilized to support the officials during their Friday night rally, which ended the traffic on the main roads in the heart of the city's business district.

"I think the government should respond to demands, instead of pushing the police on the front lines as a shield," said Kathy Yip, a 26-year-old government employee.

Friday's protest took place after an open letter written anonymously and published on Facebook described a series of demands made to the Hong Kong government by a group claiming they were civil servants.

"At present, the people of Hong Kong are on the verge of collapse, "the group wrote in that letter, stressing that it was"a pity that we witnessed extreme oppression."

The group also listed five demands: the complete withdrawal of the extradition bill; the cessation of describing the protests as "riots"; the dropping of charges against those arrested; an independent investigation; and the resumption of political reform.

Protests against a now-suspended extradition bill have expanded to demand greater democracy and the resignation of Hong Kong's leader, Carrie Lam, and have become one of the biggest populist challenges for Communist Party leaders in Beijing.

On Thursday, the government said that Hong Kong's 180,000 civil servants should remain politically neutral as the city prepares for a new wave of protests this weekend and a mass strike on Monday in areas such as transportation, schools and businesses.

"At this difficult time, government colleagues must stand together and work together to uphold the core values of the public service," the government said in a statement.

The organizers of the demonstration said that more than 40,000 people participated in Friday's rally, while the police counted 13,000 people.

The police said they had arrested eight people, including an independent party leader, after seizing weapons and equipment suspected of making bombs during a raid.

Under Chinese rule, Hong Kong had been allowed to retain broad freedoms, such as an independent judiciary, but many residents regarded the extradition bill as the final step in a continuing march to control the continent. and civil servants enjoy the right of Assembly, and it cannot be said that this is detrimental to political neutrality.

However, many public servants were afraid to identify themselves, many of them speaking anonymously or asking only their first names.

More events planned

Hundreds of medical workers also demonstrated on Friday to protest the government's handling of the situation. Large-scale demonstrations are planned this weekend in the districts of Mong Kok, Tseung Kwano and Western.

In a warning to the protesters, the Chinese people's Liberation Army in Hong Kong released on Wednesday a video showing "riot control" exercises and announced to its superiors that the violence was"absolutely unacceptable".

The LPA has remained in the barracks since the beginning of the protests in April, leaving the management of the protests to the Hong Kong police force.

US President Donald Trump described the Hong Kong protests as" riots " that China will face.

Police reported that seven men and one woman, aged 24 to 31, were arrested on Friday after raiding a building in Shatin district, New Territories, where police seized suspected weapons and petrol bombs. Unlawful manufacture or possession of explosives can be punished with up to 14 years in prison.

Police may arrest more people as investigations progress, said police officer Li Kwai Wah, adding,"We have recently been concerned about the escalation of violence."

Andy Chan, one of the founders of the pro-independence Nationalist Party of Hong Kong, banned last September, was among those arrested. His arrest led a hundred demonstrators to surround a police station to demand his release, showed a television sequence.

On Friday night, crowds of protesters surrounded a police station where Chan was being held, luring riot police into the street.

On Wednesday, 44 people were charged in a Hong Kong court for demonstrating recently at a protest near Beijing's main representative office in the heart of the city.

The escalation of the protests, which have closed government offices, blocked roads and disrupted businesses, is putting a heavy burden on the city's economy and scaring tourists.

Cheng, 39, speaking behind a large black mask, said that the recent triad attack on protesters and the slow response of the police had irritated him and his colleagues in the public service.

 

On the five demands of the protesters, he said it was vital to conduct an independent investigation into the actions of the police.