Hong Kong government to discuss emergency ban on face masks, reports say

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Office is expected to discuss invoking rarely-used emergency powers to ban people from wearing face masks during public assemblies, according to local media, a move likely to infuriate the thousands of young people involved in the months-long protest movement.

The South China Morning Post reported that the ban could come into effect as early as midnight Friday, according to unnamed sources. The Chief Executive Office, individual Hong Kong lawmakers and police would not confirm or deny plans for a ban to CNN.

The vast majority of people who have attended the city's recent pro-democracy demonstrations do so wearing masks to hide their identity, fearful that they could be arrested or targeted by police. Gas masks and respirators to protect against tear gas, which is often used by authorities to disperse unauthorized gatherings, have also become commonplace.

In order to enact such a ban the Chief Executive Office would invoke the city's colonial-era Emergency Regulations Ordinance, which grants the government sweeping emergency powers.

The legislation has not been used in more than half a decade and gives Chief Executive Carrie Lam the power to bypass the city's legislature to "make any regulations whatsoever which he (or she) may consider desirable in the public interest."

Introduced in 1922, the law was last used in 1967 during the leftist riots, that were followed by a campaign of terrorist bombings across Hong Kong and pitched battles between protesters and police. Fifty-one died throughout the turmoil, including 10 police officers.

Mounting pressure

Lam is facing mounting pressure to end the ongoing protests, which are set to enter their 18th weekend. Protests in the semi-autonomous city have grown increasingly violent since they began in early June.

Pro-Beijing lawmakers launched a petition this week to urge the government to introduce the mask ban, saying it will help end the violence.

Lawmaker Elizabeth Quat of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said in a press conference that protesters acted more aggressively when they wore masks and it allowed those committing criminal acts to escape legal action.

But critics say the law would set a dangerous precedent and pave the way for harsher regulations.

"Hong Kong authorities should be working to create a political environment in which protesters do not feel the need for masks -- not banning the masks, and deepening restrictions on freedom of expression," Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement to CNN.

"Lam needs to agree to an examination of excessive force by police and to resume the process toward universal suffrage. Additional restrictions are only likely to inflame tensions."

The reported meetings about invoking the law come after an officer fired a live round into a protester for the first time Tuesday, when thousands took to the streets as Beijing celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The day was marked by violent pitched battles that saw black-clad protesters hurled petrol bombs, set fire to subway station entrances and trash cans, and vandalized government and public buildings. Police responded using tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and arresting 269 people.

The teenage protester who was shot is under arrest for assaulting a police officer and could face further arrests for rioting, a source told CNN. He is in stable condition the Queen Elizabeth Hospital's media department said Wednesday.

The political crisis began after hundreds of thousands took to the streets to oppose a controversial bill that would have legalized extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China. The city's leader, Carrie Lam, has promised to withdraw the bill once the city's legislature resumes. But the movement has snowballed into a grassroots, decentralized crusade for universal suffrage and independent inquiries into alleged police misconduct.

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com