Weeks of political unrest roiling the streets of Hong Kong reached across the globe to New York Saturday, with hundreds of demonstrators filling Lower Manhattan.
As crowds of pro-democracy protesters marched through Hong Kong for the 10th week in a row, and pro-government supporters held their own rallies, those who support both camps gathered at the corner of Bowery and Division Street.
“There’s injustice in Hong Kong. If they want freedom, then they deserve freedom. Especially when China isn’t offering help or reform,” Jenny Kim, 24, of Park Slope told The Post.
Kim was one of roughly 500 people who came out to show solidarity with counterparts in the embattled Chinese city. Many of the marchers chanted and held signs including, “We Fight For Our Freedom,” “Stand With Hong Kong,” and “Hong Kong Popo Despicable.”
On the opposing side, a smaller but no less impassioned crowd urged the protesters to work with the mainland Chinese Communist government.
“They’re making China out to be the bad people here, it’s just the law. We just want to go back to living like we used to before these riots,” Henry Wong, 47, of Chinatown, told The Post.
Many protesters who came out for Beijing used the nationalist rallying cry “One China,” and held signs urging spectators to “Stop Demoniz[ing] China” and “Stop Biased Fake News.”
The event was peaceful, with about a dozen NYPD officers on hand to keep order and direct traffic. No arrests or injuries were reported as of Saturday evening.
Back in Hong Kong, dueling demonstrators marched past shuttered shops as worries grow that Chinese authorities will step in to quell the outcry if local police don’t.
China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Liu Xiaoming, told the BBC Beijing could “quell any unrest swiftly” if it wanted to do so.
Tensions were heightened when members of China’s paramilitary People’s Armed Police practiced crowd control tactics at a sports complex in Shenzhen across the harbor from Hong Kong Friday, in what some saw as a threat against pro-democracy protesters in the semiautonomous territory.
On Saturday, pro-democracy crowds made their way along Hong Kong’s famous harbor demanding the resignation of Beijing’s leader, Carrie Lam, democratic elections and an independent investigation of police force used against demonstrators.
Earlier in the day, thousands of teachers marched to Lam’s official residence, where they carried signs reading, “Protect the next generation,” and tied white ribbons to the metal fence.
“We want to protect our students, our youngsters, so teachers are willing to come out and speak for the youngsters, and also, to stand by them so they are not alone,” said Fung Wai-wah, president of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, which organized the march.
“The government right now doesn’t listen to the people, and the police are too violent,” said Bobby Tse, a 76-year-old retiree who watched the pro-democracy march from a bridge.
“It didn’t used to be like this. We didn’t have to protest every week. But now even though we have protests every week, the government still gives no response.”
Meanwhile, pro-government demonstrators expressed love for Hong Kong and China, and posed for photos with police officers.
With Post wire services