MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : COMMUNIST PAR TY OF RED CHINA ARRESTS WORKING CLASS PEOPLE

Daily News Brief
May 11, 2020
Hong Kong authorities said they arrested (Reuters) 230 people at protests across the city (SCMP) that marked the reemergence of the country’s pro-democracy movement following a lull due to coronavirus restrictions.

The protests at ten malls and in the working-class district of Mong Kok came on the heels of physical clashes (Guardian) between pro-Beijing and pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong’s legislature on Friday. Police cited a ban on mass gatherings and used pepper spray on protesters and reporters in Mong Kok. Continuing the government’s hard line against the movement, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam vowed to overhaul school curriculums (Guardian) that she said fuel the protests and allow students to be “poisoned.”
Analysis
“Public health experts have warned that this is a slippery slope — inconsistency in enforcing rules will erode trust in the government’s pandemic handling, and be counterproductive if the goal is keeping Hong Kong covid19-free. Instead, likely to provoke *more* mass gatherings,” tweets Shibani Mahtani of the Washington Post.

“The current pandemic has distracted international observers from Hong Kong’s struggle and left many local residents fearful of crowds. Chinese authorities know it,” Jeffrey Wasserstrom writes for Foreign Affairs.