Hong Kong Police Ban July 1 March Amid Tension Over Security Law
- March organizer will appeal against the decision Sunday
- Police said event violates H.K.’s social distancing rules
The annual pro-democracy rally in Hong Kong, on July 1, 2019.
Photographer: Paul Yeung/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Hong Kong police have declined to permit one of the city’s largest annual marches as Chinese lawmakers finalize a sweeping national security law for the former British colony.
The march planned for the July 1 anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty is against the city’s social distancing rules and may cause violence, the police said in a statement Saturday circulated by its organizer Civil Human Rights Front. The group has arranged some of the city’s largest-ever protests, including peaceful marches against a controversial extradition bill last year that attracted more than a million people and helped lead to the proposal’s ultimate withdrawal.