Hong Kong official warns lockdown protests hurt security

By KANIS LEUNG
Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s security minister has warned that the city’s protests against China’s anti-virus restrictions are a “rudiment of another color revolution” and urged residents not to participate in activities that might hurt national security. Chris Tang said some events on university campuses and the city’s streets had attempted to incite others to target China’s central government in the name of commemorating a deadly fire in the country’s far west last week. Protests erupted in major mainland cities over the weekend after the blaze that killed at least 10 in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, prompted angry questions about COVID restrictions. The rallies in Hong Kong were the biggest in more than a year under rules imposed by Beijing to crush a pro-democracy movement.