Anti-government protests are scheduled to continue in Hong Kong from 20- 22 December 2019. Between 1300 and 1430 local time (0500 and 0630 UTC) on 20 December lunch hour protests are set to occur in Cheung Sha Wan, Lai Chi Kok, Kwun Tong, San Po Kong, Kowloon Bay and Wong Chuk Hang. Beginning at 1500 local time, protesters are expected to gather in Tseung Kwan O to mark the three month anniversary of a protester’s death. At 2000 local time, protesters are expected to gather at the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre in support of arrested demonstrators being held at the facility.
On 21 December an assembly is scheduled to take place from 1300-1700 local time at Edinburgh Place in Central. Additionally, a demonstration is expected to begin at 1500 local time at the Yoho Mall in Yuen Long to protest the 21 July attacks that suspected members of organized crime groups perpetrated against protesters and commuters at Yuen Long MTR station. Authorities shut down the mall and adjacent Yuen Long MTR station during previous “7/21” demonstrations and will likely do so for the upcoming event.
Beginning at 1530 local time on 22 December demonstrators plan to gather at Edinburgh Place to show solidarity with Uighur Muslims in China.
In related developments, on 19 December a protest march organized by social welfare workers on the final day of a three-day strike began at 1430 local time. The demonstrators visited the consulates of Australia, Canada, Japan, the European Union, the U.K. and the U.S. to deliver a petition to encourage the respective countries to support the protest movement. At approximately 1530 local time, police officers stopped the march, but demonstrators were allowed to continue shortly afterward. Following the march, a rally was held at Edinburgh Place. Organizers claimed that approximately 1,000 participants attended the march, while hundreds more attended the Edinburgh Place rally; both events concluded peacefully.
