Police stand guard on a road to deter pro-democracy protesters from blocking roads in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong on May 27, 2020, as the city’s legislature debates over a law that bans insulting China's national anthem. Hong Kong police cast a dragnet around the financial hub's legislature on May 27, firing pepper-ball rounds and arresting hundreds as they stamped down on protests against a bill banning insults to China's national anthem. ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP
The price to pay
Hong Kong riot police (L) issue a warning as they plan to clear away people gathered in the Central district of downtown Hong Kong on May 27, 2020, as the city's legislature debates over a law that bans insulting China's national anthem. A few hundred protesters chanted slogans during a lunchtime rally in the city's Central district but dispersed when officers fired multiple rounds of irritant-filled pellets, AFP reporters on the scene said. Anthony WALLACE / AFP
In this file photo taken on December 22, 2019, people are detained by the police after a rally in Hong Kong to show support for the Uighur minority in China. ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP