Hong Kong leader defends emergency measures as city goes quiet


The subway and most shopping malls were closed in Hong Kong on Saturday, as the city reportedly fell "eerily silent" amid an unprecedented shutdown after the government invoked emergency measures to stifle political unrest.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of anti-government protesters defied a ban on face masks and marched in the streets, but by evening they had reportedly dispersed. However, there are reportedly plans for bigger marches Sunday.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam defended the emergency measures, which were implemented when Lam invoked the colonial-era Emergency Regulations Ordinance for the first time in more than 50 years. She criticized and blamed the protesters for the "horribly violent incidents" that occurred during Friday demonstrations, which erupted after the face mask ban was announced. During the Friday protests, police shot a teenage boy, and protesters reportedly torched businesses and metro stations.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Lam appealed to the public to condemn the violence and the protests. Read more at Reuters and the South China Morning Post.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Frustrated Trump warns 'crazy' Putin
Feature Trump lashes out online after Putin launches his largest missile and drone attack on Ukraine
-
Antisemitism: What a young couple's murder tells us
Feature A Jewish couple was hunted on the street in a hate crime disguised as a political protest
-
Where will international students go if not the US?
Talking Points China, Canada and the UK are ready to educate the world
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media
-
Trump pardons Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery
speed read Former sheriff Scott Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal bribery and fraud charges