Activists occupied Legislative Council on anniversary of Hong Kong’s transfer of sovereignty to China from Britain
In an unprecedented development, on Monday night, protestors in Hong Kong stormed its Legislative Council building and occupied it for several hours on the anniversary of the territory’s transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China. Inside the government building, protestors spray-painted graffiti on the walls and vandalised paintings.
The Legislative Council is the de facto parliament of Hong Kong.
Eventually, the riot police conducted a massive “sweeping operation” to clear out the building.
Reacting to these developments, the Beijing government said in a statement that it would support Hong Kong’s authorities in conducting a investigation into the “criminal responsibility of violent offenders”.
The spokesperson talking on behalf of the Mainland China government also said: “It is a blatant challenge to the ‘one country, two systems’ bottom line. We express our vehement condemnation against this.”
Analysts see this as the boldest challenge to Beijing’s authority, since Hong Kong was handed over to Mainland China 22 years ago.
In addition to the break-in, another peaceful demonstration was also organised – marking the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong’s takeover by Mainland China. According to reported estimates, 550,000 people had attended the demonstration.
These protest movements have continued to shake Asia’s financial capital for the past three weeks.
The protestors demand that the “extradition bill” – which has already been suspended, should be withdrawn. In addition they demand the resignation of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam and cancellation of any charges against the previously arrested protestors.
Following the sweeping operation by police, Chief Executive Lam appeared for a press conference.
“We have seen two different public scenes. One is a regular march on 1 July. Regardless of the number of participants in the march, it was peaceful and generally orderly … the second scene, which really saddens and shocks a lot of people, is the extreme use of violence and vandalism by protesters who stormed into the Legislative Council building,” said Lam.
Iran breaches limits set by 2015 nuclear deal
International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have confirmed that Iran has breached the 300 kg limit on low-enriched uranium production. Iran announced that it was stepping up production in May, in response to sanctions levied by the US.
The US pulled out of the 2015 deal last year, which offers substantially reduced economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbing its nuclear program. Reinstating US sanctions crippled their economy.
Iran has called on Europe to help counter the sanctions by 7 July, stating that their uranium production is reversible. Europe’s Instex mechanism, a special purpose vehicle that allows European banks and companies to trade with Iran without being subject to US sanctions, became active on Sunday. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said it did not go far enough.
Global manufacturing suffers as trade woes continue
According to a global manufacturing index produced by JP Morgan and HIS Markit, the global output fell to its lowest level since June 2012. The index is complied on a monthly basis and it fell to 49.4 from 49.8 in May 2019.
The on-going trade war between the US and China is affecting firms’ output and forcing them to overhaul their supply chains.
This is evident in the fact that the manufacturing slowdown has most sharply affected the intermediate goods, while consumer goods have been relatively less affected. Intermediate goods form the largest chunk of international trade.
In Other News:
EU leaders seek to break stalemate on top jobs, Reuters
In new talks, US may settle for a nuclear freeze by North Korea, NYTimes
Bolsonaro fights lawmakers turning him into ‘Queen of England’, The Financial Times