Thousands of Hong Kong high school students were joining workers in a city-wide strike during the first day of school in a massive pro-democracy demonstration Monday, AP reports.
Why it matters: What began in June as a protest against a bill that would have seen Hong Kongers on charges extradited to China has become a massive anti-government and pro-democracy movement amid fears the Chinese government may crack down on the high degree of autonomy Hong Kongers have enjoyed since the former British colony was returned to China in 1997.
Details: Strikers gathered at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and 2 public spaces in the city’s central business district, per AP. Many students wore gas masks, as they joined hands in human chains and chanted protest slogans before the start of school in the anti-government protest, according to the New York Times.
Christian students on campus gather under the Basic Science Medical Building as they sing "Sing Hallelujah to the Lord", which was sung frequently during the Anti-ELab protests.#classboycott #antiELAB pic.twitter.com/lmRwLl5FXl
— Varsity CUHK (@varsitycuhk) September 2, 2019
Editor's note: This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.
