Hong Kong leader invokes emergency powers to quell escalating violence

HONG KONG (Reuters): Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam invoked colonial-era emergency powers on Friday for the first time in more than 50 years in a dramatic move intended to quell escalating violence in the Chinese-ruled city.

Lam, speaking at a news conference, said a ban on face masks would take effect on Saturday under the emergency laws that allow authorities to “make any regulations whatsoever” in whatever they deem to be in the public interest.

Many protesters wear masks to hide their identity due to fears employers could face pressure to take action against them.

“Almost all protesters wear masks, with the intention of hiding their identity. That’s why they have become more unbridled,” said Lam.

“We can’t keep the existing regulations idle and let violence escalate and the situation continue to deteriorate.”

Lam described the territory as being in serious danger, but not in a state of emergency.

It was not clear how the government would implement the mask ban in a city where many of its 7.4 million residents wear them every day to protect against infection following the outbreak of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003.

Four months of anti-government protests have plunged the former British colony into its biggest political crisis since its handover to Beijing in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula granting it autonomy.

What began as opposition to a proposed extradition law, that could have seen people sent for trial in mainland courts, has grown into a broad pro-democracy movement and a serious challenge to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Pro-Beijing groups had been pushing for legislation to ban face masks at demonstrations but anti-government activists immediately set out to challenge it, calling for protesters to wear masks on a march on Saturday from the shopping district of Causeway Bay to government headquarters in the city centre.

Banks and shops in the busy Central district closed early in anticipation of violence, as some protesters burned Chinese flags. Thousands of protesters gathered in other parts of the territory.

The protesters are angry about what they see as creeping interference by Beijing in their city’s affairs despite the promise of autonomy under the “one country, two systems” formula.

China dismisses accusations it is meddling and has accused foreign governments, including the United States and Britain, of stirring up anti-China sentiment.