Revellers return to Hong Kong’s nightlife hotspots to celebrate Halloween amid small protests
- Party-goers flood bar districts in Central, Tsim Sha Tsui, Wan Chai and Mong Kok, some paying no respect to social-distancing rules
- Muted demonstrations staged in parts of city to show solidarity with Thailand’s protesters and mark 14 months of a police operation at MTR station
Some demonstrators displayed political messages, including ones in support of Thailand’s protesters. In Lan Kwai Fong, the famous bar district in Central, a protester in her 30s had donned a mask emblazoned with the name of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and the words “step down”.
Youth and student-led demonstrations that began in July are calling for the ousting of the former junta leader. She said some of her friends were in Thailand and she hoped to “make use of the freedoms remaining” in Hong Kong after a national security law took effect in June.
“We want him [Prayuth] to step down,” she said. “The demands for democracy have been suppressed by military rule in Thailand. How should he still remain in power?”
Hundreds celebrate Halloween in Hong Kong’s popular nightlife district despite Covid-19
She added the demonstrators “are not alone, we are standing with you all”.