In Hong Kong's crackdown on protests, face mask ban may be the start

HONG KONG - When Hong Kong's leader invoked emergency powers to ban face masks during protests, she went to great lengths to explain that the city wasn't in a state of emergency. Rather, she declared, after months of unrest, the city was in a"very critical state of public danger."

Trying to restore public order without spurring more protests will be hard to achieve, however, and the city's leadership is already considering imposing other measures to crack down. Starkly different views on just the face-mask ban underscore how irreconcilable the differences between the government and the protesters have become.

Police fired many rounds of tear gas in an effort to disperse the crowds, and urged residents to stay home. To avoid potential protesters at Hong Kong's airport, Mrs Lam caught a flight on Tuesday afternoon to Shenzhen on the mainland border, then crossed over into the city. Just as Mrs Lam was arriving home, a police officer shot a protester in the chest at point-blank range."On the first of October, we were three centimeters away from disaster," said Mr Ronny Tong, another member of Mrs Lam's Cabinet, the Executive Council.

But imposing one now isn't entire practical. Protesters have shown a talent for moving quickly around the city, so authorities would need a curfew for all neighbourhoods. And police, already stretched, don't necessarily have the resources to enforce it. But the most likely policy option now being considered, several of Mrs Lam's advisers said, is to greatly extend the operating hours at Hong Kong courthouses so they can put numerous violent protesters behind bars quickly.

Directly forbidden demonstrations

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