Hong Kong government bans protesters wearing face masks under emergency regulations as widespread protests intensify across the semiautonomous Chinese territory
"The current chaos in Hong Kong cannot continue indefinitely," Yang Guang, spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of China's central government, said in a statement.
Critics said Lam's move was a major step towards authoritarianism for Hong Kong, which has been governed by China under a "one country, two systems" framework since British colonial rule ended in 1997."And I'm worried this could be just a starter. More draconian bans in the name of law could be lurking around the corner.""It is ironic that a colonial-era weapon is being used by the Hong Kong government and the Chinese Communist Party," he told.
The powerful US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi separately said the ban "only intensifies concerns about freedom of expression".The emergency law was last invoked during riots in 1967.Avoiding identification After Beijing and local leaders took a hard line, the demonstrations snowballed into a wider movement calling for more democratic freedoms and police accountability.
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