Protesters are required to wear numbered lanyards around their necks as they protest against a land reclamation and waste transfer station project during one of the first demonstrations to be formally approved since the enactment of a sweeping national security law, in Hong Kong, China March 26, 2023. REUTERS
HONG KONG 鈥� Hong Kong police on Sunday permitted a small protest march under tight restrictions in one of the first demonstrations to be approved since the enactment of a sweeping national security law in 2020.
Several dozen demonstrators were required to wear numbered lanyards and were barred from wearing masks, as police monitored their march against a proposed land reclamation and rubbish processing project.
Participants chanted slogans against the reclamation project as they marched in the rain with banners in the eastern district of Tseung Kwan O, where the project is slated to be built.
Some also criticized the restrictions on their protest, which included a maximum of 100 participants, according to a seven-page letter from police to organizers, seen by Reuters.
鈥淲e need to have a more free-spirited protest culture,鈥� said James Ockenden, 49, who was marching with his three children.
鈥淏ut this is all pre-arranged and numbered and it just destroys the culture and will put people off from coming for sure.鈥�
Police granted the organizers a 鈥渘o objection鈥� letter for the protest on the condition they ensure it would not violate national security laws, including seditious displays or speech.
鈥淪ome lawbreakers may mix into the public meeting and procession to disrupt public order or even engage in illegal violence,鈥� the police warned in their letter.
Organizers said up to 50 people took part in the first protest to be authorized by the city鈥檚 police for several years.
Applications for other protests, including a candlelight vigil on June 4 to commemorate the victims of China鈥檚 Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, have been denied on grounds related to COVID social-distancing.
The last of Hong Kong鈥檚 COVID restrictions was scrapped this year, following China鈥檚 decision to end its 鈥渮ero-COVID鈥� policies.
Hong Kong鈥檚 mini-constitution, the Basic Law, guarantees the right to public assembly.
Since the China-imposed national security law, enacted in June 2020 in response to protracted pro-democracy protests in 2019, authorities have clamped down on freedoms and arrested scores of opposition politicians and activists.
Some Western governments have criticized the law as a tool of repression but Chinese authorities say it has restored stability to the financial hub.
One protester surnamed Chiu, 50, said she appreciated the chance to protest 鈥渋n difficult times鈥�, and said she saw the lanyards more as a means to facilitate crowd management.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 mean putting a leash on us to restrict our expression. I think it鈥檚 acceptable,鈥� she told Reuters.
This month, a women鈥檚 rights group cancelled a demonstration at the last minute after a police spokesman said some unspecified 鈥渧iolent groups鈥� might join in.
Political observers and some Western diplomats are watching to see if authorities will allow a resumption of major demonstrations in Hong Kong, namely on June 4 and July 1, that had been a mainstay of the city鈥檚 once vibrant civil society scene and attracted thousands of people.