Hong Kong transport system partially reopens

GBnews24desk//

Hong Kong’s transport operator MTR resumed metro service on Sunday morning, but some stations remain closed due to “serious vandalism”.

Services had been suspended on Saturday after stations and businesses came under attack in violent anti-government protests the previous day.

Meanwhile, pro-democracy legislators are trying to overturn a law banning protesters from wearing face masks.

The High Court has already refused to grant an injunction to halt the ban.

But the legislators say the law is unconstitutional, and they will be raising new legal points at a court hearing on Sunday.

Chief executive Carrie Lam introduced the ban under a colonial-era regulation.

On Saturday, she defended her decision to invoke emergency powers in order to restore order.

Hong Kong had been through a “very dark night” of “extreme violence”, she said.

A number of metro stations in the centre of Hong Kong will remain closed on Sunday for repairs, and train services will end at 21:00, three hours earlier than usual.

Many shops and businesses which had remained closed on Saturday reopened on Sunday morning, but more anti-government protests are expected later in the day.

Unrest in the former British colony started in June, sparked by proposals to extradite suspected criminals to mainland China.

The extradition bill was subsequently cancelled but protests have widened into pro-democracy and anti-police demonstrations