Online Calls Fail To Spur Mass National Day Protests

Few heeded online calls for anti-government protests on National Day at multiple locations across the city, with police maintaining a heavy presence at areas like Mong Kok and Causeway Bay.

There were calls for protesters to turn up in Moko mall on Thursday afternoon, but only a handful arrived and chanted slogans for a few times before dispersing.

Police officers were on standby outside the mall, but they did not intervene.

A staff at the mall said there were even fewer shopper than usual.

Streets in Mong Kok were lined not with demonstrators, but police officers and vehicles, as well as journalists clad in reflective vests.

There were also calls for people to turn up in Tsuen Wan, Tsing Yi and Yuen Long, but no mass protests materialised.

The Civil Human Rights Front had applied for a rally on the Hong Kong island to demand that 12 Hongkongers held on the mainland be brought back to the SAR, but police rejected permission for it, citing the pandemic restrictions.

The government and the Beijing's liaison office had also warned people against holding protests on the National Day.