Tens of thousands of students in Hong Kong boycott the first day of classes as part of a citywide strike in support of pro-democracy demonstrators.
Students wear protective gear during a protest in Hong Kong, Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. Hong Kong has been the scene of tense anti-government protests for nearly three months. The demonstrations began in response to a proposed extradition law and have expanded to include other grievances and demands for democracy in the semiautonomous Chinese territory.
Nearly three months of youth-dominated protests — calling for democracy and an independent inquiry into police conduct — will be tested as classes resume with the end of the summer break in the semiautonomous Chinese territory. Separately, high school students who were skipping class rallied in Edinburgh Place, a public square in Hong Kong’s central business district. Teenagers spoke to the crowd from a stage with a backdrop that read: “With no future, there’s no need to go to class.”
Some demonstrators disrupted the morning commute on Monday by blocking train doors, attempting to evade riot police who were hot on their heels by moving quickly between multiple public transit stations. Late at night Saturday, video from Hong Kong broadcaster TVB showed police on the platform of Prince Edward subway station swinging batons at passengers who backed into one end of a train car behind umbrellas. The video also shows pepper spray being shot through an open door at a group seated on the floor while one man holds up his hands.
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