China’s National Day: Fury in Hong Kong After Festivities in Beijing

By The New York Times

Hello, and welcome to a special edition of the Morning Briefing.

Protesters engulfed in tear gas in Hong Kong today.Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

As China celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Communist Party’s rule with a military parade and fireworks today, protesters in districts across Hong Kong engaged in some of the most violent and sustained clashes yet in their monthslong movement against Beijing’s tightening grip.

Here’s the latest:

In a significant escalation, the Hong Kong police shot a protester with a live bullet for the first time in months of clashes, three lawmakers said. The protester’s condition was not immediately known.
The city was transformed into a battlefield as protesters clashed with riot police officers in nine districts, building bonfires and barricades and hurling firebombs.
Earlier in Hong Kong, tens of thousands of demonstrators thronged the streets in a peaceful march, hoping to overshadow the celebrations in mainland China.
In his opening speech before the morning parade in Beijing, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, said that China would “maintain the lasting prosperity and stability” of Hong Kong — a clear indication that the turmoil there was on his mind.
In a tightly choreographed display of might, China showed off an arsenal of new high-powered weapons during its parade, including a missile that can strike anywhere in the U.S.

The protests are likely to continue late into the evening. Here’s a look at the day’s events so far.

Protesters in Hong Kong brawl with the police

Several working-class neighborhoods turned into pitched battle scenes shrouded in tear gas.

A vicious brawl erupted between protesters and the police in the Tuen Mun district in northwestern Hong Kong, close to the border with the Chinese mainland. The police used batons and pepper spray to fend off a crowd of hundreds but were momentarily overwhelmed by wave after wave of protesters throwing umbrellas and other projectiles
On Hong Kong Island, the police created a cordon and used a water-cannon truck to keep protesters away from the office of the Chinese central government’s liaison to the territory. Elsewhere, they fired live rounds as warning shots and chased after protesters, pinning some of them down.
In the Jordan neighborhood in Kowloon, a group of men in masks used a Molotov cocktail to burn posters of Mr. Xi outside a Chinese Army barracks.

A float with a giant portrait of China’s leader, Xi Jinping, during today’s military parade in Beijing.Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

In Beijing, Xi shows China’s military might

Early in the day, 15,000 soldiers goose-stepped along Chang An Avenue — the Street of Eternal Peace — to kick off one of the largest military parades in modern Chinese history.

Mr. Xi, in his speech, projected the enduring strength of the Communist Party and its future. “No force can shake the status of our great motherland; no force can obstruct the advance of the Chinese people and Chinese nation,” he said.
The pageantry of the 70th anniversary revealed Mr. Xi’s effort to rewrite Chinese history. His administration has molded textbooks, television shows, movies and museums to match his narrative of national unity and rejuvenation. The Communist Party has also promoted revolutionary nostalgia and played down the strife of the Mao era.
The military parade put China’s shiniest new weapons on display, including the DF-41 missile, which can carry 10 nuclear warheads and strike anywhere in the U.S.
One of the guests of honor at the Beijing parade was Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s beleaguered chief executive.
The parade was more than just weapons. It featured colorful displays meant to bring to life China’s achievements over the past 70 years and Mr. Xi’s policies. Here are some pictures from the event.

Hong Kong is on lockdown

Dozens of subway stations remain shuttered, malls were closed all day and an eerie quiet hung over the main business districts.

The police set up roadblocks on a major highway that snakes past Causeway Bay, the starting point of one of the day’s marches.
Traffic was snarled on some major thoroughfares.
The city’s No. 2 leader, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung, who presided over a morning flag-raising ceremony, said the Hong Kong government was sparing no effort to restore peace.

A bit of background

The protests that have shaken Hong Kong and worried Beijing began with huge demonstrations in early June against an unpopular extradition bill. In the months since, they have become a broader movement against Beijing’s power in the semiautonomous territory.

Violent clashes between young protesters and the police have become more frequent, and the demonstrators’ demands have only grown in number and scope.

In recent days, China’s state-controlled news media has turned up the pressure on Hong Kong’s property tycoons, blaming them for soaring housing costs that have contributed to the discontent. The campaign has singled out the billionaire developer Li Ka-shing, whom China’s state news media once lauded as a “patriot” and then flipped to deride him for his ambivalence toward the antigovernment protesters.

Here’s a guide to what prompted the protests, how they evolved and why it all matters.