Hong Kong, September 7: Hong Kong police on Sunday arrested nearly 300 pro-democracy protesters for opposing the postponement of local elections. According to reports, three prominent pro-democracy politicians, Leung Kwok-hung, Figo Chan and Raphael Wong, were among those detained by the police. The protest took hours after the police arrested democracy activist and radio DJ Tam Tak-chi for using "sedition words". Hong Kong Postpones Legislative Elections Due to COVID-19 Surge, Move Infuriates Democracy Supporters.

Police in a statement said that they arrested 289 people for unlawful assembly. As per AFP's report, Beijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong called the protesters "heartless". Notably, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam in July postponed Legislative elections due to COVID-19 surge. The polls for the Legislative council were scheduled to be held on September 6, but has now postponed till the year-end or early 2021. The people of Hong Kong consider it as an attack on democracy.

The 70-member Legislative Council is currently being ruled by the pro-establishment party of Lam. It was predicted that Lam's party would have been defeated in the polls. The surveys had given the edge to the coalition of pro-democracy parties. US Slaps Sanctions on Hong Kong's Leader Carrie Lam, 10 Other Officials.

In June this year, China also imposed the sweeping national security law on Hong Kong to take full control of the former British colony which since last year was in turmoil with massive protests by millions of locals opposing Beijing's growing controls on the city of over seven million. This again led to widespread protests in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. It has observed a "one country, two systems" policy since Britain returned sovereignty to China on July 1, 1997, which has allowed it certain freedoms the rest of China does not have.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 07, 2020 09:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).