中国各地的城市、城镇和村庄都在举行庆祝活动，市民们聚集在一起，向中华人民共和国70岁生日致敬。
但是在中国第九大城市香港，中华人民共和国国庆节却是完全不同的事情。自6月份以来，这个半自治地区一直受到反政府抗议的困扰，数百万人走上街头，反对北京方面不断侵蚀的政治和法律影响力。
香港政府已经取消了计划中的烟火表演为了庆祝周年纪念日，把仪式移到会议中心，而不是在外面举行，冒着被破坏的风险。
康乐及文化事务署(康乐文化署)在本月初宣布这项决定时表示，“鉴于最新情况及顾及公众安全”，该展览已被取消
香港的“动乱之夏”始于一项引渡法案，该法案允许香港引渡逃犯在中国接受审判。
反对者认为，这将让北京迫害香港的持不同政见者。自1997年从英国统治过渡到中国统治以来，香港一直与内地保持“一国两制”的平衡。这给了它的居民比他们的同胞更大的自由。
维权人士称，香港警察暴行让抗议活动得以持续
尽管行政长官林郑月娥最终撤回了拟议的引渡法案，但抗议者认为此举太少、太迟而不予采纳。
活动人士现在要求赦免近1500名被捕者，收回描述活动人士的“暴徒”一词，对警察暴力进行独立调查，并要求对该地区实行普选。“五项要求，而不是少一项”，已经成为该运动最突出的号召之一，激进分子将其命名为“我们时代的革命”
本周末，警察和活动家之间的冲突连续第17周持续。暴力但现在已为人所熟知的场景是周二的一个不祥预兆，警方准备以武力对付反对派。
谢永龄警司周一告诉记者军队预计“明天的形势非常非常危险”他补充道:“核心暴徒正在增加他们的暴力。他们的暴力和计划的深度和广度表明，他们越来越多地诉诸恐怖主义。”
谢霆锋还称，警方收到情报称，“铁杆暴力抗议者”正在煽动他人——包括那些有“自杀倾向”的人——实施广泛的暴力行为。据称，这些行为包括谋杀警察、伪装成警察杀害平民以及放火焚烧加油站。
不管怎样，激进组织再次游行，渴望破坏北京的大日子。根据华盛顿邮报成千上万的游行者参加了全市至少五次不同的活动。截至周二早上，已经有报道称与警方发生冲突。
抗议者经常瞄准中国民族自豪感的有力象征——例如国旗和国玺——给国庆庆典蒙上阴影将激怒习近平主席政府。
宾夕法尼亚大学法学院教授、中国法律和政治专家雅克·迪利尔(Jacques deLisle)解释说，抗议者将周二的庆祝活动集中在“给北京带来痛苦”和“让政府难堪”上
“在中国政治中，周年纪念是一件大事，尤其是Xi想要展示他的——以及中国的——实力的周年纪念，”迪利尔继续说道。“抗议者已经抓住了其他较小的周年纪念日——香港回归7月1日、雨伞运动5周年纪念日——以大规模行动加大压力。”
也许这就是为什么，根据路透社，中国在香港的驻军增加了一倍。继北京上月派出数千人越过边境后，目前有1万至1.2万人驻扎在该地区。北京方面称之为例行的“轮换”
报道称，香港警方正在拷打被拘留的抗议者
迪利尔警告称，鉴于周二周年纪念日的重要性，当局可能会采取“特别强有力的措施来防止或限制抗议活动”。
“这是一个并非完全不可抗拒的力量与事实证明不是不可移动的物体相遇的例子，”迪利尔解释道。
他说，如果警察更愿意使用暴力，它可能吓跑一些更坚定的和平抗议者，导致“我们最近看到的尤其糟糕的版本，尤其是到了晚上——特别准备或授权使用武力的警察和一些最激进、暴力的抗议者之间的对抗”。
随着激进分子越来越愤怒，警察也变得越来越暴力。恶性循环已经持续了近四个月。前线活动分子现在经验丰富，有些甚至携带武器，使用弹弓、BB枪、各种射弹，包括汽油弹和临时棍棒袭击警察。
《中国的胜利愿景》的作者、华盛顿阿特拉斯组织咨询公司的创始人乔纳森·沃德告诉记者新闻周刊政府将在周二制造任何暴力事件，以配合其对美国和其他西方大国支持的极端主义活动分子的持续叙述。
沃德解释说，这一切都“反馈到他们关于中华民族和中华民族伟大复兴的民族主义和民族主义叙事中”。
鉴于中国威权主义和镇压的历史，沃德警告说，他不会排除国家方面的大规模暴力。然而，他指出，抗议者的全球影响力可以减轻北京方面的一些痛苦。
“抗议者最重要的武器，在某些情况下，是苹果手机和能够向世界展示正在发生的事情，”他解释道。“我认为，只有共产党和中华人民共和国的行动受到阳光和阳光的照射，才能真正产生威慑，阻止他们采取更糟糕的行动。”
抗议者们正在奋力抗争。香港过去的民主运动已经被粉碎或任由其消亡。今年夏天的抗议活动因活动人士的坚韧而非同寻常，但北京似乎不太可能改变其吸收香港的长期目标。
沃德说，引渡法案的成功出台，将是向“集体拘留制度——共产党世代运行的酷刑制度”迈出的一步
他说，走上街头的人“知道这意味着什么”。“任何人正视这一点并意识到这可能是他们的未来，都明白这意味着什么。”
沃德认为，正是这一令人生畏的现实让活动家们成为“目前世界上最勇敢的年轻人”
2019年10月1日，人们在香港铜锣湾购物区参加游行，该市正在庆祝国庆假期，以纪念中国共产党成立70周年。
HONG KONG PROTESTERS SPOIL CHINA'S 70TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS, CREATE 'EMBARRASSMENT TO THE REGIME': EXPERTS
Celebrations are taking place in cities, towns and villages all over China as citizens gather in a patriotic salute to the 70th birthday of the People's Republic.
But in Hong Kong—the ninth-largest city in China—the National Day of the People's Republic of China is a very different affair. The semi-autonomous region has been beset by anti-government protests since June, with millions taking to the streets in opposition to Beijing's encroaching political and legal influence.
The Hong Kong government has alreadycanceled a planned fireworks showto mark the anniversary and moved the ceremony inside a convention center, rather than holding it outside and risking disruption.
Announcing the decision earlier this month, a statement from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department said the display was scrapped "in view of the latest situation and having regard to public safety."
Hong Kong's "summer of unrest" began in response to an extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong to extradite fugitives to face trial in China.
Opponents argued this would LET Beijing persecute political dissidents in Hong Kong, which since transitioning from British to Chinese rule in 1997 has existed in a "one country, two systems" balance with the mainland. This gives its residents greater freedoms than their compatriots.
Hong Kong Police Brutality Is Keeping Protests Alive, Activist Says
Though Chief Executive Carrie Lam eventually withdrew the proposed extradition bill, the move was dismissed by protesters as too little, too late.
Activists are now demanding amnesty for the almost 1,500 people arrested, retraction of the term "rioters" to describe the activists, an independent inquiry into police violence, and universal suffrage for the territory. "Five demands, not one less," has become one of the most prominent rallying cries of the movement, which activists have christened the "revolution of our times."
This weekend, clashes between police and activists continued for the 17th consecutive week. The violent, yet now familiar, scenes served as a foreboding warning for Tuesday, with police prepared to meet opposition with force.
Superintendent John Tsetold reporters Mondaythat the force was expecting "the situation tomorrow to be very, very dangerous." He added: "Core rioters are increasing their violence. The depth and breadth of their violence and plans show that they are increasingly resorting to terrorism."
Tse also claimed police had received intelligence that "hardcore violent protesters" are inciting others—including those with "suicide tendency"—to commit a wide range of violent acts. These allegedly included murdering police officers, disguising themselves as officers to kill civilians and setting fire to gas stations.
Regardless, activist groups are marching again, keen to spoil Beijing's big day. According toThe Washington Post, tens of thousands of marchers are taking part in at least five different actions across the city. As of Tuesday morning, clashes with police have already been reported.
Protesters have regularly targeted potent symbols of Chinese national pride—for example, flags and state seals—and casting a shadow over the national day celebrations will enrage President Xi Jinping's government.
Jacques deLisle, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an expert in Chinese law and politics, explained that protesters have focused on Tuesday's celebrations precisely to "inflict pain on Beijing" and as an "embarrassment to the regime."
"In Chinese politics, anniversaries are a big deal and this is an especially big deal anniversary when Xi wants to showcase his—and China's—power," deLisle continued. "The protestors already have seized upon other, lesser anniversaries—the July 1 anniversary of Hong Kong's reversion, the fifth anniversary of the umbrella movement—to up the pressure with large actions."
Perhaps that is why, according toReuters, China has doubled the strength of its military garrison in Hong Kong. There are now between 10,000 and 12,000 troops stationed across the territory, after Beijing sent thousands across the border last month in what it described as a routine "rotation."
Hong Kong Police Are Torturing Detained Protesters, Report Claims
DeLisle warned that the authorities might take "especially strong measures to prevent or limit the protests" given the importance of Tuesday's anniversary.
"It's a case of a not-quite-irresistible force meeting what has proven to be less than an immovable object," deLisle explained.
If police are more willing to use violence, it could scare away some of the more steadfastly peaceful protesters, resulting in "an especially bad version of what we have seen lately, especially into the evenings—a confrontation between police especially primed or authorized to use force and some of the most radical, violent protesters," he said.
As activists have grown angrier, police have grown more violent. The vicious cycle has dragged on for nearly four months. Front line activists are now seasoned and some even armed, using slingshots, BB guns, various projectiles including petrol bombs and makeshift clubs to attack police.
Jonathan Ward, the author of "China's Vision of Victory" and the founder of the Atlas Organization consultancy in Washington D.C., toldNewsweekthat the government will spin any violence on Tuesday to play into its ongoing narrative of extremist activists backed by the U.S. and other Western powers.
It all "feeds back into their nationalist, nationalistic narrative of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese and the Chinese nation," Ward explained.
Given China's history of authoritarianism and repression, Ward warned he would not rule out mass violence on the part of the state. However, he noted that the global reach of the protesters can take some of the sting out of Beijing's tail.
"The protesters most important weapon, in some instances, is the iPhone and the being able to show the world what is going on," he explained. "Only sunlight and daylight on the actions of the Communist Party and the People's Republic of China can really create, I think, the deterrence to actually take worse actions."
The protesters are fighting against the odds. Past pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong have been crushed or allowed to wither and die. This summer's protests have been exceptional for the tenacity of the activists, but Beijing seems unlikely to budge on its long-term goal to absorb Hong Kong.
The successful introduction of the extradition bill, Ward said, would have been a step towards the "mass detention system, the torture system that the Communist Party is run for generations."
Those taking to the streets "know what that means," he said. "Anyone staring that in the face and realizing that could be their future, understands what it means."
It is this daunting reality that Ward argued makes the activists "the bravest young people in the world right now."
People take part in a march in the Causeway Bay shopping district in Hong Kong on October 1, 2019, as the city observes the National Day holiday to mark the 70th anniversary of communist China's founding.
