The protests have been largely peaceful for much of December after pro-democracy candidates overwhelmingly won district council elections the month before.
(Photo: IANS)
As anti-government protest still continued in Hong Kong that rocked the city since June which raised career doubts among the expatriates living in the city, according to reports on Friday.
Immigration figures show that 731,082 foreigners were living in Hong Kong in November 2018. A year later, the figure was 726,032, the South China Morning Post said in its report.
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The number includes domestic helpers, largely from the Philippines and Indonesia, who totalled to around 400,000.
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There is no evidence of an exodus, so far.
Anurag Bhatnagar, President of the Forum of Indian Professionals Hong Kong, moved to the city from India in 1995 and has seen several periods of mass protests since then.
“What I was surprised by, though, was the violence – how things took a violent turn,” Bhatnagar said.
On Christmas, the city’s anti-government demonstrators chanted pro-democracy slogans as police fired tear gas to disperse crowds gathering on nearby streets.
The protests have been largely peaceful for much of December after pro-democracy candidates overwhelmingly won district council elections the month before.
Last week, police said that they foiled a second bomb plot in under a week after officers arrested three men allegedly testing home-made devices and chemicals in a secluded area.
Earlier in the month, Hong Kong’s protests are largely leaderless and organised online. They were initially sparked by a now-abandoned attempt to allow extraditions to the mainland but have since morphed into a popular revolt against Beijing’s rule.
Hong Kong’s protests started nearly six months ago in June against proposals to allow extradition to mainland China, a move many feared would undermine the city’s judicial independence and endanger dissidents.
The controversial China extradition bill was withdrawn in early September but the movement has morphed into a wider campaign for greater democracy and against alleged police brutality.
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