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CNN Live Event/Special
CNN International: Hong Kong Protesters Storm Legislative Council Building; China Told Britain Not to Interfere; Hong Kong Legislative Council Building Vandalized. Aired 1-2p ET
Aired July 01, 2019 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNA COREN, CNN HOST: With my colleague, Amara Walker.
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Anna Coren, great job out there. Thank you for you that. We are following Breaking News out of Hong Kong.
The European Union is urging demonstrators to use restraint and dialogue to find a way forward, after a relatively little police response nearly all day, as you've been hearing. Last hour, we saw a swift response. Police using tear gas and then, finally, forming a line armed with shields, masks and riot gear. They seized the legislative build from protesters who had taken it over.
The government earlier issued a statement and addressed to those inside. That statement was addressed to the people still inside the Legislative Council, telling them to stop damaging the building at once. These were the dramatic pictures earlier.
It said the storming of the building amounted to "extreme violence." It also said the march that took place elsewhere in Hong Kong on Monday had been peaceful and it respects the right of citizens to demonstrate. These are pictures inside the Legislative Council chambers there.
Meantime, China said the situation in Hong Kong is purely an internal concern and has told Britain not to interfere. This, after the British foreign secretary said on Sunday, that Hong Kong must maintain its high degree of independence. China has banned discussions of the protests on social media and has blocked CNN's signal there. There is also almost no mention of demonstrations in state-run media.
All right. We also have reporters standing by, Nic Robertson is standing by as well as Matt Rivers.
First, to you, Nick. Bring us up to speed on the latest right now. What is the situation on the ground?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: A complete contrast for just over an hour ago, Amara. And Christian's (ph) is going to just pan off me now and look at the police officers who are outside the Legislative Council building. They're sitting down. They come in. They came in fast, they used tear gas, they cleared the crowds out. The crowds walked away peacefully. There wasn't confrontation. They have secured the perimeter of the Legislative Council building. They clearly cleared through the inside of it, as well.
And now, the police just seem to be resting and waiting for whatever their next orders are. We've seen police moving through this area and the crowds just literally melting away. The police came in a blaze of tear gas, enough to make us put our gas marks on.
Such a contrast to early in the day when the crowds were like crammed at the windows of the building, smashing with rocks, bars, using barricades as battle rams to smash their way through the windows. And the police on the inside of the building not confronting the protesters.
And when the protesters did get inside, the police just disappeared. The protesters had the run of the building, spraying graffiti even in the chamber where laws for this country, laws for Hong Kong are passed. That was the degree of freedom, of access that the protesters had, spraying graffiti around the building.
But when the police came, they came fast, they came with a clear plan, they appeared to executed that plan, that is to secure the Legislative Council building, secure the area around it and chase away the protesters. And that's what we've witnessed in the past hour or so.
WALKER: OK, Nicholas. Go to Matt Rivers who is also there on the ground. So, as you've been hearing from Nic Robertson, clearly, the riot police moved in quickly, they were able to achieve what they wanted to, was to get those protesters out of the Legislative Council chambers.
Matt, what is the latest in terms of the protesters and where they have dispersed to?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, we were with those protesters inside the Legislative -- the main chamber in the Legislative Council building, you know, myself and my team. I had managed to get into that chamber with some of those protesters. And we were in there for 90 minutes, maybe two hours. It was remarkable how long we were allowed to be inside there.
And the question -- when we were doing live shots from inside, the question we kept asking, well, how is it to end? Is it going to end peacefully or is it going to end violently? And we got that answer very quickly when the police moved in. As Nic described, they moved in very quickly and fear. There's no other way to put it, but palpable fear set in amongst the protesters that were in that building who had been standing on legislators' desk's, frankly, talking about how they had earned the right to be there and wanted to stay there.
But as soon as the police really came in in force, they did leave quite quickly. I think because they knew, in some respects, that the police were ready for a fight, in that sense. And so, when we get out of the building, we were chased away from the building with the protesters. Tear gas was fired, as Nic described, very effectively. The plan clearly executed by the police [13:05:00]. And we got pushed all the way where we are now.
So, you can see, that's the line of police right there. And that's where they're going stop, at least for now. Just like Nic described where he is. Clearly, the goal for the police was to establish a perimeter in a number of different areas to say, "This is where you're not going to get passed," and that's where the police are now.
It's calmed down considerably. Their helmets are off. Their shields are still up but their helmets are off. They are relaxed on the other side. And really, it's nothing but journalists over here at this point.
Your original question, Amara, where do the protesters go? From the looks of it, they went home. You know, they did not hang around. This police response was overwhelming. And in terms of the police, their objective was to get these protesters out of here, clear this area and make them go home. They achieved their objective. Because from what I can see, there are no protesters left, at least in my general vicinity here.
WALKER: Let's go through a time line here, especially for our viewers, Matt, who are tuning in to get an update. You know, hours ago, you know, I was talking to Andrew Stevens on the ground, protesters had just started forming, it was early morning there in Hong Kong. It started out peacefully, with the protesters taking to the streets. It began with the flag raising ceremony. Take us through how it devolved into this with graffiti and defacing inside the parliament building.
RIVERS: Yes. It was a tale of two stories throughout the city today, Amara. Because on the one hand, you did have some skirmishes at that flag raising event and you have some of the protesters not choosing to go to the march.
Sorry, there's a police vehicle here that's just driving past. You had some of those protesters choose not to go to the march and instead, kind of hang around the Legislative Council building and really cause a lot of trouble there for most of the day.
But at the same time, I actually started my day today at Victoria Park where the march that was scheduled for today began, and it was incredibly peaceful. I don't know the exact numbers at the moment, but there was easily tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people that peacefully marched just like they did two weeks ago when organizers said 2 million people came out. They made their way down the march route. They made their way here towards Admiralty neighborhood here in this part of Hong Kong and then they went home.
And it was a peaceful, calm march. There was not much police presence. But it was the people who left. Either joined the Legislative Council protests later in the day, after going through the march, or the people that were just at the Legislative building the entire day, and those were the people that were really determined to create a scene, and they did.
And so, that's what happened. You had a peaceful march but at the same time, you had a very determined group of several hundred thousand people led by probably just a couple dozen who were right up at the front of the building, taking whatever they could find, metal poles that they ripped off the side of the building, barricades like the one on the street here, doing whatever they could to get into that building, and that's what they did. And the police didn't stop them until they did in a swift away. So, that's kind of the time line of the day.
On the one hand, I would say the vast majority of protesters were peaceful. They were just marching. But you did have a sizable contingent, if not the majority, but it was relatively sizable in the Legislative Council building area and they were determined to cause trouble, and they absolutely did, getting inside that building. And I was there. They trashed the place on the inside, there's no doubt about it.
WALKER: Yes. And let's talk more about that because you were inside, you said the Legislative Council building for, what, almost two hours. First off, tell me about the people who were inside with you. Were they mostly youngsters and was there any dialogue? Were they talking about why they were doing this and that possibly, did they talk about the fact that this could be counterproductive especially when the world has been watching and has been sympathetic to what -- to their message and to the fact that, you know, their marches have been peaceful until now?
RIVERS: The people inside the Legislative Council building were the same people that were trying to break in all day long, and those are young people. You know, I would say somewhere 18 to 25. No more than 30 years old, I would say. But definitely in their early 20s, most of them.
And so, when they made their way inside, you know, they really ran through the place and destroyed a lot of things. And we did ask these questions, you know, why are you in here, why do you think that breaking the law is going to, you know, help your cause, because it would seem that this vandalism would go beyond the kind of civil disobedience that you saw, perhaps, in the civil rights movement in the United States.
You know, they were really damaging a lot of property on the inside, spray paint, breaking things. And we asked, "Why are you doing this? What is the goal of this?" And they say, "Look, we think that the Hong Kong government didn't hear us." After the last time, 2 million people marched, they say nothing changed. And they think that the Hong Kong government didn't hear them. So, they said -- one person told me they needed to upgrade their protests. And this is the way they thought to do it. To tell the Hong Kong government, in their words, there would be [13:10:00] consequences for inaction. That's what one protester told me.
And so, that was certainly the message that we heard from across the gamete when talking to people outside of that building. And we asked, "Don't you think that when you look around the world that images like this might hurt your cause?" And they said, "You know what, that's for other people to think about. We want the Hong Kong government to know what the consequences of inaction are."
Whatever you -- whatever merit you ascribe to that view, that was the view of the people inside that building, and it was the view across all of them. We spoke to, probably 2 dozen people, and that was a very consistent answer, Amara, of those people who made it inside the Legislative Council building.
WALKER: Very interesting and remarkable that you were there and able to talk to the protesters firsthand. Obviously, as the world is watching, we're going to be watching for China's reaction to all of this.
And for the most part, President Xi Jinping has been quite mum about what has been happening and they're hoping to prevent as much of these images from getting out, especially on the main land but also around the world.
But, I mean, Xi Jinping is a man who recently consolidated power and has to be concerned about what it means for his image. He was just at the G20 having very high-profile meetings, especially with Trump regarding trade. But this must have been on the back of his mind at the very least. And now, it has to be at the forefront as -- I mean, it looks like he lost control, to be frank, of Hong Kong.
RIVERS: You know, I think that this is certainly something that Beijing is not happy about. I mean, the fact that protesters were allowed to break into a government building that is part of the country of China, you know, yes, it's one country, two systems. Hong Kong is a separate entity. But protesters were inside a place where people make laws here. And that is something that Beijing is going to be livid about.
Now, I don't think you're going to hear them talk about it publicly in state media because that would be to admit some sort of guilt or wrong doing. But if I was the Hong Kong government having to meet with my liaisons in Beijing, I would not be looking forward to those meetings.
But one thing I would point out, Amara, is that the communist party, I think, is more afraid of the peaceful march that we saw today with tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people than they are about the people who broke into that building. Because those images at that building, that can be spun. That can be said, "This is what happens when you allow democratic protests. This is not stability. Is this the kind of country you want to live in with lawless activity, with people breaking into the government buildings and spray painting the countries insignia and trampling all over legislator's desks?" They can probably spin that.
But how does Beijing look at the fact hundreds of thousands of people have come out peacefully three times now in the course of one month and not look at that and say that, I think, is probably what makes them the most concerned because that shows a groundswell of support here for these democratic style freedoms that Hong Kong has long enjoyed and is now increasingly becoming aware of the fact that they are going to be stripped away slowly but surely as Beijing encroaches more and more into Hong Kong. There's no question about it. And so, it's interesting. Beijing had a lot of images to look at inside that counsel building. They're not going to be happy about it. But overall, they're looking at that march, I think, and saying, "That's the freedom of expression and freedom of protests that we don't allow on the mainland because we're afraid of what it can turn into."
WALKER: Yes. Absolutely. The fear is, you know, what could it spawn, what can it turn into. And regarding the sizes of the protest, the organizers of the demonstration say over a half million people took part in the marches on Monday while the Hong Kong police are saying, "No, it was smaller. About 190,000 people turning out."
Last, Matt, before we let you go. I know it's been a very long evening for you. You've been doing excellent work. Just regarding the police response, because it struck me when you said you were in the Legislative Council building for, what, almost two hours as, you know, this was happening, people climbing up, breaking things, defacing portraits of the leaders, writing on the walls. Talk to me about the police response and, you know, why it was so slow and why it happened when it did.
RIVERS: This is the big question that is going to have to be answered, Amara, in the weeks and the months to come, where were the police for the majority of this day? I don't think you would have seen the scene like what we saw, not only with people trying to break into the building, but ultimately, getting in and trashing the inside of it.
I don't think in most developed places in the world you would have seen scenes like that. I just don't think it would have happened. And so, the question for the police is, "Well, why did you hold back for so long?" And I think the only kind of reason that I can guess and that plays into this, likely response is that on June 12th, when we were on the road here and it was tear gas being fired, they got big time criticism, the police did, for what critics called an overreach, a brutal response, police brutality at its worst, is what critics would say.
And so, perhaps the restrain, is one way to put it, overly restrained is another way to put it, response from the police today [13:15:00] is a direct result of not wanting to get that criticism from, you know, the general public.
If you want to get more conspiratorial with it, you could have said, well, they wanted protesters to do something bad because they would think that those images would make them look bad. There's going to be a lot of conspiracies about that. We don't know the reason at the moment, but I can tell you that they got a criticism on June 12th that certainly, probably -- it's probably weighing on the minds of police administrators and it's influenced their actions, not only today but in the last couple of weeks leading up to this, Amara.
WALKER: Yes, sure thing. Matt Rivers, really, really appreciate your reporting there on the streets. Thank you so much for that. It's time to take a short break here but we will continue our continuing coverage of the protests in Hong Kong after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: Welcome, everyone. As we are following Breaking News out of Hong Kong. These are live pictures as authorities there in Hong Kong, riot police, walking through the inside of the Hong Kong parliament, the Legislative Council building, LegCo as it's also called. And we've been seeing extensive damage inside.
This is after a couple of hours long siege by break-away protesters who stormed the building and basically began defacing the parliament building inside, spraying graffiti. They actually used whatever they could find to break through the glass entry of the parliament building. Got inside.
You can see just on the walls there just black spray paint used to spray whatever those messages are on the walls. But clearly, there's extensive damage to the furniture, to the walls, to the portraits of the legislators there. A lot of anger, as you see [13:20:00], was manifested through the violence and the chaos that ensued inside the legislative chambers there.
It's been quite a day for Hong Kong. It started out peacefully, as we've been hearing from Matt Rivers. It started out with a commemoration, marking the anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China. It started with a flag-raising ceremony. There were protesters who had gathered. It was part of a series of protests that began weeks ago.
Protests against an extradition bill that Carrie Lam was to introduce to parliament. That has been indefinitely shelved as people were angry that this would allow China to extradite suspects to the mainland. A lot of anger on the streets. We saw just boiling over and this has been the result, violence and chaos inside the parliament building.
It is after 1:00 in the morning there in Hong Kong. And for the most part, it looks like the protesters have dispersed, but this is after they were inside the Legislative Council, as Matt Rivers was saying. He was with the protesters for those couple of hours as they were inside for almost 90 minutes to two hours. Our Matt Rivers has been reporting. They were inside, damaging, having their run of the building. And it took that much time until riot police came in, blasting in with tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Our Nic Robertson has been following this for hours now. He's outside the building. What are you seeing from your advantage point, Nic?
ROBERTSON: It really seems to be the police taking a break. They've executed the move as though they wanted to do. They've come in and taken control of the building. They've affected that control. They have controlled the vicinity around the building, they're moving a perimeter out to where they feel comfortable, no protesters are going to come back. And they're relaxing down below.
We have seen some of those police officers who have been going through the building. We can see through the windows higher up in the building there, there were police officers walking around there. So, they are clearly checking out the building inside, inspecting and probably making sure there are no protesters hiding away. They're getting a firsthand to see the damage themselves.
But even now, I can see a number of police officers sitting down. But the number of officers that were here before, even half an hour or 45 minutes ago, seems to have dropped off. Some of the officers have left this area. They're probably in other areas around here. But this is a very calm situation. It does feels like the calm after the storm that has happened.
But the police stood back for close to 12 hours or so as those protesters broke in through the windows when we were at the side of the building about 2:00 this afternoon when the protesters first began to try to smash through the heavy windows. The police were just behind the windows inside the Legislative Council building, and all they would do when the protesters came through, they're getting through the glass, was spray a little bit of pepper spray to put them off a bit, the protesters would come back and keep bashing away at the windows.
So, the police have maintained this very softly, softly nonconfrontational approach throughout the day. And this really seems to indicate they're acting under instructions not to get into confrontation, as they did on the 12th of June when the protesters were beaten and there are claims against the police of strong and extreme brutality, unnecessary brutality against protesters. The police took an entirely different approach today.
And at the end of the day, that may have paid off for their image in terms of crowd control that it hasn't been violent and confrontational other than using the CS gas. But then there may be questions asked about why couldn't the national police force here, the 32,000 police officers in the city, this day, for a day when everyone knew there were protests coming and it could be one of the biggest protests, why didn't they secure the building and the perimeter around it, the government building? Why they didn't secure it in advance?
So, these are very likely, Amara, the questions that are going to begin to be asked. However, for now, it does seem to be the police now executing their maneuvers and now deciding what to do next, how many officers to keep out, where to position them and then inspection of the building.
WALKER: And, Nic, do you think this was part of the larger strategy to keep the authorities at bay, to allow the protesters to have their run of the parliament even if there is extensive damage to it so that they could sway public opinion as the world is watching, perhaps against the protesters so that all of this will eventually backfire [13:25:00], especially with the authorities taking this, as you said, soft nonconfrontational approach?
ROBERTSON: Yes. It's probably hard to know with the information we have available. And you could certainly see how that could work for Carrie Lam, the chief executive. The backlash, because of the violence the police used last time, on the 12th of June, clearly, there was an order made to police to go out and confront the protesters on that particular day.
The backlash was a political backlash, which meant she had to shelve that legislation, that they were -- people were protesting against that legislation, the extradition bill, to extradite some criminals for trial in mainland China.
So, there was a political cost for a confrontational approach by the police. So, it is possible that a political decision was taken to instruct the police not to be confrontational this time so as not to damage a possible path of the bill in the future or make similar political damage for Carrie Lam's administration. That's one scenario. But we don't know all the decisions.
Would she herself was indecisive throughout the day about when and what the police should actually do and when they should act, we don't know that and we don't know what advice the police gave her and her administrators about what they could and couldn't do. Perhaps the fault wise with the police that they were robust in the beginning, that they wanted to protect their image.
So, there's a lot of different scenarios. And without more information, it's going to be difficult to say. But at the end of today, it is going to look, the narrative today as opposed to the 12th of June, the narrative that day was about police brutality. The narrative today is going to be about the protesters smashing their way into the government building, unprecedented, unheard of here. Smashing their way into the government building, spraying graffiti in the chamber where legislators make law for Hong Kong. That's going to be the narrative of the day. And that is a damaging one for the protesters' cause and that may be one that the politicians here use against them in the coming months.
WALKER: Yes.
ROBERTSON: But, you know, we have to see it play out, but those are the likely things.
WALKER: Yes. We did hear from one pro-democracy Labour Party lawmaker, Fernando Cheung, who said that the storming of the building was a huge mistake and this was basically a trap set up by authorities and the protesters played into it. That is the opinion of the pro- democracy Labour Party leader.
Nic, regarding the protesters, have you seen any arrests? Will they face criminal charges?
ROBERTSON: We haven't seen any arrests here. That is not to say that they haven't happened. Earlier in the day, there were several -- more than a dozen police injured by what police said was sort of a toxic substance used in a liquid spray or a powder that was thrown at the police, and it took a lot of washing with water to get it out.
The police will no doubt want to follow up on that for prosecutions. And undoubtedly, as we saw them, at the windows of the building as the building was being smashed, filming protesters. So, undoubtedly, they're going to want to try to bring prosecutions against some of those people, some of those protesters that they can identify that they believe that they could -- those charges could stand up in court, because a lot of people were smashing the windows and it may be hard to prove a particular individual was engaged in that.
But it didn't seem that the police did came into the situation here tonight with the aim of arresting people. They came in rather than a pincer movement, to sort of trap the crowd and then let them out and filter them and arrest those they wanted to arrest or arrest them all, they didn't do that. They came in in such a way that the protesters had a way to get out of the area. They had no choice. They had to move away. That was the clear message from the police. The police didn't do it as a way to entrap them, to try to arrest them. So, it appears the police --
WALKER: Interesting.
ROBERTSON: -- have chosen tonight to avoid making a lot of arrests.
WALKER: Yes. A lot of people taking note of the police response in a very cautious response that you speak of.
Nic Robertson, we're going to leave it there. Appreciate your reporting. Nic talking about the calm after what has been quiet a stormy day and evening.
We're going to take a short break here. More Hong Kong coverage after this. [13:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: Hi, everyone. Thanks for being with us. We're going to bring you up to date now on the latest breaking developments from Hong Kong.
Protesters who broke into Hong Kong's legislative building and held it for several hours have finally departed and dispersed. Police dressed in riot gear, used tear gas and batons to clear the area and police are still maintaining a presence there.
The occupation capped the latest day of demonstrations. Protesting plans to allow extraditions to Mainland China. Organizers claim more than half a million people participated but police are putting the figure much lower at 190,000.
Our Matt Rivers has been with the protesters all day and night. He was inside the legislative council when they stormed it. I know it's much calmer there on the streets, Matt.
I mean the big question is, what happens next? Obviously, the world is clearly scrutinizing what is going on and a lot of pressure on China as to what it does next. Will there be more of a crackdown? Will they pressure Carrie Lam to push through the extradition bill? A lot of questions. RIVERS: Yes. And it's a really interesting turn of events tonight, Amara, because up until this point, you had a better part of a month of protests. I think the protesters were far and away seen in the international community here in Hong Kong and in Southeast Asia as sympathetic.
You know, you had peaceful marches. You had people just a cross- section of society. Like grandmothers pushing little kids in their strollers in the march. You had 2 million people, according to organizers out just two weeks ago.
You had another peaceful march today and yet today things changed. Today, protesters went inside this building. They trashed the building on the inside. And I think it's a reasonable assumption to say that a lot of people seeing those images of masked young people with metal poles breaking their way into a government building, I think that's going to rub certain people the wrong way.
And I think that it might have some negative effect on the image of these protests. And we should point out that what we saw today was not indicative of the vast majority of people. Organizers say 500,000 people were on those streets.
I was there. I was on an overpass watching thousands and thousands of people walk underneath me and they were peaceful, chanting slogans, passionate, energetic but peaceful. And what you saw at the Legislative Council Building was the [13:35:00] exact opposite.
The aftermath of this is going to be interesting. How does this calculation change? How does it affect protesters' momentum? How does it affect the movement against this extradition bill?
It's too soon to tell that. These protesters were just dispersed within the last couple of hours but that's going to be what Hong Kong has to grapple with over the next couple of days and weeks even.
WALKER: Yes. You know, the fact that the protests devolved into these graffiti on the walls, violence, extensive damage inside the legislative chamber, sure, that can backfire. But let's talk about the other side, as well, Matt Rivers and speak to the frustration that these youngsters are feeling.
And, you know, how demoralized they must feel, especially in the light of the fact that this is not the first pro-democracy protest. This is one of at least two other major marches that we've seen over the past three or four weeks.
And not to mention, I mean, there were pro-democracy marches back in 2014. The umbrella movement where people were calling and demanding full democracy.
They wanted the full right to nominate their chief executive directly without China first off picking out the members of the committee who would actually vote for a pro-Beijing chief executive. So this isn't the first time that they've taken to the streets in this way over the past few years asking for democracy. RIVERS: No, absolutely not. And, you know, one of the questions we asked people across the board when we were inside that -- outside the Legislative Council Building while they were attacking the doors and breaking the glass and, also, while we were inside watching people graffiti, you know, the flower of Hong Kong, the specific pink flower that symbolizes the city, you know, and there was black spray paint put over top of it.
We asked what justifies this. You know, how do you justify your actions here? And what they say is they were forced into this because the Hong Kong government didn't listen.
You know, they said 2 million people marched two weeks ago and what's changed since then? Has the chief executive Carrie Lam stepped down? No.
Has there been an independent commission on police brutality? No, there hasn't been. Have they fully repealed the extradition bill instead of just suspending it like they have so far? No.
So there's a whole list of issues that protesters say have not been addressed and nothing that a peaceful march has -- nothing a peaceful march has been able to accomplish. So that's why they said they needed to upgrade their protest, as they put it, Amara.
WALKER: Yes.
RIVERS: When they broke into that building.
WALKER: Yes. No one advocates for violence but, I mean, clearly a lot of frustration and feeling like no one is listening to them no matter how peacefully they march. Appreciate you, Matt Rivers, on the ground there. Thank you very much for that.
Nic Robertson has a look now at how we got to this point in Hong Kong.
ROBERTSON: This was the moment protesters smashed through the glass at the Hong Kong Legislative Council Building. After hours of using trolleys, metal poles, and crates full of rocks shielded by umbrellas, the now infamous symbol of resistance to Chinese domination.
Just over my shoulder here, you can probably hear what sounds like a battering ram. It is a battering ram of sorts. It's one of those barricades you just saw being used to batter into the government building.
This is the main government building in Hong Kong. It has been the focus of anger for thousands of violent protesters today.
Once through the first layer of the building, protesters tore down metal fencing and the group made it inside. The protesters looked well prepared with gloves, masks, and helmets.
One told CNN, "We don't have a plan, we just want to say something." July 1st is often a day of protest in Hong Kong marking the anniversary of the handover to China in 1997. While official celebrations were held complete with the Chinese national anthem, protesters raised their own black flag of rebellion outside the government building. The embattled Hong Kong chief executive responded during the ceremony promising to change her style of governance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARRIE LAM, HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE: I will learn the lesson and ensure that the government's future work will be closer and more responsive to the aspirations, sentiments, and opinions of the community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: But so far, that hasn't caused for her resignation. While the breakaway group was violently smashing into the government headquarters, another much larger and more peaceful march through the city marking the anniversary of the handover to China.
These latest demonstrations come after weeks of unrest triggered by a [13:40:00] proposed a new bill that would allow extradition to China. Although the government has suspended the bill, for now, many in Hong Kong say they will continue to protest until the creep of Chinese influence into their lives is halted.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Hong Kong.
WALKER: And back to live pictures there. This is inside Hong Kong's parliament.
Much calmer, much quieter now. Police have a handle on the situation hours after protesters stormed the legislative counsel and did extensive damage to it inside.
It's been quite a tumultuous day and evening. And the big question is well, now what politically?
Will Carrie Lam permanently withdraw the extradition bill and see to the demonstrators' demands? How will China respond? Big questions still up in the air.
We're going to take a short break and have more of this coverage, the democracy -- the pro-democracy protest that's been violent in Hong Kong after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: We continue to follow breaking news this hour in Hong Kong. A massive police presence has moved in and cleared hundreds of angry, young protesters who broke into the heart of the government, the city's legislative council.
The protesters vandalized the building as they made their way into the legislative chamber. After hours of mostly standing by, riot police finally with tear gas, shields, and batons dispersed the crowd. It follows the 22nd anniversary of the former colony's handover from Britain to China.
The government earlier issued a statement while the protesters were still inside the building telling them to stop damaging the facility at once. It said the storming of the building amounted to "extreme violence". It also said the march that took place elsewhere in Hong Kong on Monday had been peaceful and that it respects the right of citizens to demonstrate.
Meanwhile, China is saying the situation in Hong Kong is purely an internal concern. It has told Britain not to interfere.
This, after the British foreign secretary said on Sunday that Hong Kong must maintain its high degree of independence. China has banned discussions of the protests on social media and has blocked CNN's signal there.
There is almost, also, almost no mention of demonstrations in the state-run media and these are live pictures, by the way, of the calm now that has taken over Hong Kong after this very tumultuous last few hours.
Now, Alan Hoo, he is pro-Beijing and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. And he spoke to CNN earlier about the ongoing situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[13:45:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first, your reaction to what is going on inside the Legislative Council Building.
ALAN HOO, MEMBER, CHINESE PEOPLE'S POLITICAL CONSULTATIVE CONFERENCE: Well, we are witnessing a very critical stage of the protest movement. Because, as you were saying, well, they seem to be leaders. That's not true.
There's no central leadership. It's obviously a huge movement they had to mobilize people out to the street in such numbers and in such frequency.
But at the moment, what they're doing is that the objective is what, the bill. The bill is dead. It's as good as dead.
Even the pro-democracy legislators know it's dead. Then what is the point?
At the start of the protest today, I see that the leaders of the movement were saying that, "No, we want to have political change. We want to have universal suffrage in our way. We want the chief executive to resign." So you see the different agendas. But maybe --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But Alan, they were calling --
HOO: -- (CROSSTALK) by all people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- a resignation from the get-go. They are taking the action that they're taking -- and by no means am I condoning their action. They're taking this action to get the reaction from the government, to get them to take notice because they feel that their demands are not being listened to. That Carrie Lam and her government, including yourself, are not listening to the protesters.
HOO: I think there is no doubt that what they're saying is well, listen to, not just by us in Hong Kong, but internationally. And that you must be deaf and blind not to see what is going on.
What is happening here is that you reach a critical point, for example, of the police. What they want is no police action.
So the police today made the point, right. You're going to attack the legislative building, there is nobody inside. There's no session.
I mean previously, they're stopping taxers. They're stopping people in the immigration department. Today, you're going to come into a building which they tried to stop.
But when they failed, they said all right, come in. And what happened?
They trashed the legislative chamber. Completely trashed it.
This is not a protest movement. This is vandalism. It doesn't have to do distend to the stage.
When you have a proper --
WALKER: Is this vandalism? Absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is vandalism but why did the police, Alan, allow this to happen? They have been sitting on this --
(CROSSTALK)
HOO: It's an empty building. They will be criticized --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't matter. It's called --
(CROSSTALK)
HOO: -- for why are you using violence -- why are you using violence to stop people --
(CROSSTALK)
HOO: All right. You go first. Sorry. I didn't hear that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police are there to enforce law and order. Police are there. Police are there to enforce law and order.
HOO: The police have tried to stop them --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- nobody inside the Legislative Council Building. It is public property. HOO: My turn. The police tried to stop them coming in. They failed.
They broke the windows. They came in. The police had to make a decision, right.
Do we stop them with force? Do we use tear gas?
There are so many people outside. Do we stop them?
And then they made a decision no. We don't know what they want.
It's an empty building. Let them go in.
What did they do? They didn't do it just to occupy the building. They just trashed it.
Completely trashed it and all sort of things like the colonial flag went up. What was the agenda there?
That's nothing to do with Carrie Lam, the old colonial flag, right. Defacing the Hong Kong flag.
All these offensive things to the dignity of Chinese people in Hong Kong. Why are they doing that? Is that the agenda?
I think the breakdown of law and order is the critical point we've reached today. And the people of Hong Kong, I'm sure, when you wake up tomorrow, the reality sinks in and this is a breakdown of the rule of law.
It doesn't matter which community in the world this is. The world is watching.
And this is not what a peaceful protest is about. You don't even know what you want.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're absolutely right, Alan. The world is watching. The world is watching anarchy take place inside Hong Kong's Legislative Council Building.
This is Hong Kong. This is not a third world country. This is not a third world city.
This is one of the biggest international --
HOO: And that's precisely my point. That's precisely why (CROSSTALK) --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- in the world and yet there are hundreds, if not thousands of people, who have stormed that building. So why haven't police stopped them?
HOO: This is not a third world country. You've said it.
You don't expect people to behave like this. I can tell if there's anybody who's lived or worked in Hong Kong would not expect the scene that we've seen today.
You trash the legislative council today. You block government buildings yesterday.
What next? Are you going to trash [13:50:00] the courts now? Are you going to go to the courts and trash it?
I think law and order is at a critical stage and I think that will be restored and the community will be able to settle down and with the help of the international community scrutinizing everything, I think that the real issues in this whole excise will come out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, Alan, let me ask you this, do you believe that police can resolve this peacefully? There are hundreds of people inside that building. There are thousands, if not tens of thousands outside it. Can this be resolved peacefully?
HOO: I am not a law enforcement expert, but I will say that the police should be there to prevent any danger to whoever the occupants inside the building, whether they could be trespassers. Safety should be number one.
But I think that the rule of law is something that they want to bring with them, the law and order. Which means they might want to take everybody's names down, right.
They want to know who are there, that there will be a price to pay but they certainly want to restore law and order now. And I think the way they will do it is something which will be at the momentum where the peace of the people and the safety of the people would best be preserved. At least that's what we all hope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Wow. Quite an exchange but yes, there are still a lot of questions as to why it took the authorities there on the ground, the riot police to move in hours after the storming of the legislative council took place. We're going to have more coverage of the Hong Kong democracy protests and the violence after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Amara Walker. We are monitoring breaking news from Hong Kong this hour.
Demonstrators have been evacuating the city's Legislative Council after hundreds of police officers moved in to disperse them. Police fired tear gas and also tased protesters down outside the building.
Demonstrators have filled Leg Co on the 22nd anniversary of the handover back to China, an occasion that traditionally sees protest but rarely in this scale. This year, year anger has been fueled by a controversial extradition bill, one that protesters fear could be abused by China.
Nic Robertson is standing by with more. And Nic, yes, what is happening where you are?
ROBERTSON: Well, I'm looking at the police where I'm standing right now outside the sort of main entrance that was breached into the Legislative Council Building.
And I have to say, the police have done their job. They have cleared the protesters from here.
Many are sitting down and waiting for their next orders on what to do next. So there's a semicircle of police officers behind me still standing up here, the ones that have this semicircle [13:55:00] around securing the building if you will.
There have been officers going through the inside of the building, checking the rooms there, checking to see that all the protesters are gone. But what we witnessed have over the last couple of hours here is the police execute a maneuver with a large number of officers to get the protesters out of here.
And from what we've been able to see, by and large, that went off swiftly. It went off without confrontation.
The protesters walked away. Many of them walking away with their hands in the air.
The police have cleared them off from local streets around this government building and the status quo that is settling now is the building is secure. The area around it is secure.
And when people in the city wake up on Tuesday morning wanting to go to work, apart from the tidy up that has to happen inside this building, of course, because of the graffiti that's been sprayed on the walls here, this is the sort of only vest age of this day of huge protests.
This is the manifestation of it inside the building. But now the police have taken back control. Now the protesters are gone, and now the city can breathe until we see what happens next.
But I think there's going to be a lot for everyone to consider what damage the protesters done to their because by the damage they've done to the building here. What questions of those who direct the police over why did they wait so long?
Why didn't they provide a bigger perimeter around the building? All those sorts of questions.
But for now here, very much it feels like job done, place secure. Make sure no one comes back. Move on.
WALKER: The message is to China to stay out of our politics, to stop trying to curve our freedoms. We want full democracy.
This has to do a number on Xi Jinping's strong man powerful image. He's a leader that has consolidated power recently.
Crucially, we should be watching for China's reaction, Xi Jinping's reaction to this, Nic.
ROBERTSON: Well, what you've just said very much echoes a statement that the British foreign office put out in the hours leading up to the protest, reminding that the world that the Treaty of 1984 was a U.N.- backed treaty, underwritten treaty, where Britain guaranteed the procedures with China that would lead to the handover 13 years later in 1997 on the 1st of July.
So what you said echoes that. And the response that has come from the Chinese government.
And the police are just gearing themselves up running behind me. Not quite clear why or what is happening at the moment. But this doesn't seem to be a big situation.
The other officers here are resting. But this does seem to be a point that is going to be raised. But of course, Xi Jinping knows for sure time is on his side.
WALKER: Sure thing. Nic Robertson, I appreciate your reporting. Thank you for being with me here on this breaking news coverage.
I'm Amara Walker. Our breaking news coverage continues with our Hala Gorani after this break.
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