Hong Kong protesters set out to spoil China's big day. They succeeded
China shows off military in anniversary parade02:30
Hong Kong (CNN)You could not have asked for a more striking contrast between Hong Kong and Beijing.
As thousands of performers took part in a stunning, highly coordinated display in Tiananmen Square -- half ultra-patriotic Olympics opening ceremony, half Chinese New Year's gala -- Hong Kong was in chaos, with fires set, subway stations and government buildings vandalized, and protesters clashing with police and residents across multiple districts.
Chinese President Xi Jinping held the world's attention Tuesday morning with a grand military parade through the capital to mark 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic. But by the time festivities resumed in the evening, all eyes were on Hong Kong, which has emerged as one of the largest thorns in Xi's side.
Police tackle and arrest pro-democracy protesters during clashes in Wan Chai on Tuesday, October 1.
A protester is seen carrying rocks on a street in the Sha Tin district of Hong Kong on October 1. While events in Beijing were being held to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, demonstrators rallied throughout Hong Kong as the pro-democracy movement enters its fourth month.
Protesters react after police fired tear gas near the central government offices in the Admiralty area of Hong Kong on October 1.
Pro-democracy protesters form a "Pepe the Frog" themed human chain in Hong Kong on Monday, September 30.
A man is detained by Hong Kong police during a protest in the Causeway Bay shopping district on Sunday, September 29.
Riot police arrive after protestors vandalize in Hong Kong on September 29.
Passengers look out from a bus at a burning barricade lit by pro-democracy protesters during a gathering in front of Mong Kok police station on Sunday, September 22, in Hong Kong, China. Pro-democracy protesters have continued demonstrations across Hong Kong, calling for the city's Chief Executive Carrie Lam to immediately meet the rest of their demands, including an independent inquiry into police brutality, the retraction of the word riot to describe the rallies, and genuine universal suffrage, as the territory faces a leadership crisis.
Pro-democracy protesters sing songs and chant slogans during a rally inside a shopping mall in Shatin on September 22.
An anti-government protester throws a Molotov cocktail during a demonstration near Central Government Complex in Hong Kong on Sunday, September 15.
A pro-China supporter, center, is escorted by police after confronting journalists in Hong Kong, on September 15.
Pro-government and anti-government supporters chant against one another at a shopping mall in Hong Kong on Friday, September 13. The sign translates to "Stop violence and curb chaos; safeguard Hong Kong."
Demonstrators hold up their cell phone lights as they form a human chain at the Peak, a tourist spot in Hong Kong, on September 13.
Police escort an injured man after he attacked protesters outside Prince Edward station in Hong Kong on Friday, September 6.
Protesters burn paper money to pay their respects to injured protesters.
Protesters prepare to clash with police outside the Mong Kok police station on September 6.
A protester is detained by police at the Po Lam Mass Transit Railway station on Thursday, September 5.
A man watches televisions at a store in Hong Kong as Chief Executive Carrie Lam announces the withdrawal of the extradition bill on Wednesday, September 4.
A woman gets emotional on September 4 while paying her respects to protesters who were injured a few days earlier.
Demonstrators travel through a railway station during a rally on Tuesday, September 3.
Students wearing gas masks and helmets hold a banner that reads "five major demands are indispensable" at St. Francis' Canossian College in Hong Kong.
Protesters gather in the bus terminal at Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday, September 1. Hundreds of pro-democracy activists attempted to block transport routes to the city's airport.
A passenger walks to the airport on September 1 as pro-democracy protesters blocked a road outside the airport.
A protester uses a slingshot outside the Central Government Complex during clashes with police on Saturday, August 31. Thousands of pro-democracy protesters held an anti-government rally one day after several leading activists and lawmakers were arrested in a sweeping crackdown.
Protesters light a Molotov cocktail on August 31.
Police officers move forward during clashes with protesters on August 31.
Protesters take cover as policemen fire blue-colored water on them. Blue dye can be used to stain and identify masked protesters.
A surveillance camera is covered with white paint during protests.
An overhead view shows protesters reacting after police fired tear gas on August 31.
Pro-democracy activists Agnes Chow and Joshua Wong speak to the media after they were released on bail at the Eastern Magistrates Courts on Friday, August 30. They were arrested earlier the same day in a dragnet across Hong Kong.
Protesters clash with police after a rally in Hong Kong's Tsuen Wan district on Sunday, August 25. It was one of the most violent nights seen in Hong Kong since mass protests began in June.
A police officer aims a gun in front of a protester on August 25.
Some protesters shine laser pointers at police lines on August 25.
Protesters and police clash on Saturday, August 24.
Protesters pick up bricks to be used as projectiles on August 24.
Police retreat after clashing with protesters on August 24.
People link hands as they gather at the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront on Friday, August 23. Protesters formed a human chain across Hong Kong in a show of solidarity.
Cell phones shine from the top of Lion Rock on August 23.
Protesters march under umbrellas on Sunday, August 18.
Tens of thousands of protesters showed up in the streets on August 18.
A protester participates in a march on Saturday, August 17. His eye is covered with red gauze, referencing a woman who was allegedly shot in the eye with a beanbag round during clashes between protesters and police.
Protesters react after police fired tear gas to disperse a demonstration at the Sham Shui Po police station in Hong Kong on Wednesday, August 14.
Protesters point lasers at the Sham Shui Po police station on August 14.
A police officer falls over an airport luggage trolley during a scuffle with pro-democracy protesters on Tuesday, August 13. For two days, protesters flooded the airport. Check-ins were suspended and dozens of outgoing flights were canceled.
Police use pepper spray to disperse protesters at the airport on August 13.
Police and protesters clash at the airport on August 13. The violence came after Hong Kong's Airport Authority announced that all check-in services would be suspended for another night because of terminal operations being "seriously disrupted."
A traveler passes her luggage to security guards as she tries to enter the departures gate.
A display board shows canceled flights on August 13.
Anti-government protesters stand at a barricade made of luggage trolleys during a demonstration at the airport on August 13.
Medics look after a woman who received a facial injury during clashes on Sunday, August 11.
A pro-democracy protester is held by police outside the Tsim Sha Tsui police station on August 11.
Police fire tear gas at protesters during a demonstration in the Wong Tai Sin District on Monday, August 5.
A train passenger gestures toward a protester, right, who was preventing the doors of a train from closing on August 5. The protester was trying to disrupt Hong Kong's morning rush-hour commute.
A man lies down on an underground train during a protest on August 5.
A man comforts his pregnant wife near a train platform after protesters blocked the train doors on August 5.
A protester stands in tear gas during a confrontation with police in the early hours of Sunday, August 4.
A Chinese flag floats in water after it was thrown by protesters during a demonstration on Saturday, August 3.
A protester sprays paint on a wall on August 3.
Members of Hong Kong's medical sector attend a protest in Edinburgh Place on Friday, August 2.
The emblem on the China Liaison Office is protected by plexiglass during a demonstration on Sunday, July 28.
A protester flees from baton-wielding police in the Yuen Long district of Hong Kong on Saturday, July 27.
A protester looks through umbrellas during the clashes with police on July 27.
Travelers watch as protesters rally at Hong Kong's international airport on Friday, July 26.
Protesters clash with police on Sunday, July 21.
Masked men in white T-shirts are seen after attacking anti-extradition bill demonstrators at a train station in Yuen Long.
Medical workers help a protester affected by tear gas on July 21.
The office of pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho was trashed by protesters in Hong Kong's Tsuen Wan district.
Police officers use pepper spray to disperse protesters after a rally in the Sheung Shui district on Saturday, July 13.
A demonstrator sprays paint inside a chamber at Hong Kong's Legislative Council building, where protesters forced their way in on Monday, July 1.
The meeting hall of the Legislative Council is taken over by demonstrators on July 1.
A protester smashes a window of the Legislative Council building.
Columns of sunlight are cast on a crowd during the march on July 1.
Helicopters carrying the flags of China and Hong Kong fly over demonstrators on July 1.
Pro-democracy lawmaker Roy Kwong rallies demonstrators with a megaphone on July 1.
A police officer uses pepper spray during a clash with protesters on July 1.
A protester wearing a T-shirt with the word "revolution" walks past an inscription on a road that reads "Long Live HK."
Police detain protesters near the government headquarters in Hong Kong on July 1.
An overhead view shows thousands of protesters marching through a Hong Kong street on Sunday, June 16.
Protesters run after police fired tear gas on Wednesday, June 12.
Protesters face off with police during the rally on June 12.
By the morning of June 12, tens of thousands of mainly young people had arrived in the area, blocking streets and bringing central Hong Kong to a standstill.
A demonstrator holds a sign during the June 12 rally.
Police officers charge toward protesters during clashes on Monday, June 10. It was a continuation of protests that started the day before.
Protesters hold pictures of Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Sunday, June 9.
Protesters on June 9 waved placards and wore white -- the designated color of the rally. "Hong Kong, never give up!" some chanted.
Students wear chains during a demonstration on Saturday, June 8.
Protester shot by police
In the lead-up to October 1, the focus was on whether China's leaders would crack down in Hong Kong or otherwise try and stop the city from upstaging the capital with inevitable protests.
In the end, they relied on the city's beleaguered police force -- which has borne the brunt of the protests with scant support from the local government -- to handle the unrest.
But despite some 6,000 officers reportedly being deployed to the streets, they weren't able to contain the unrest. Protesters spread out across the whole city -- and it was one police officer's action that did more than anything else to upstage the celebrations in Beijing.
As tens of thousands of people took part in an unauthorized but largely peaceful protest march on Hong Kong Island, smaller demonstrations across Kowloon and the New Territories quickly turned violent. During a confrontation in Tsuen Wan, an officer fired a live round into a protester -- the first time lethal force has been used in 17 weeks of protests.
An 18-year-old man was hospitalized, and remains in a serious but stable condition. Police said the officer fired his weapon out of concern for both his own safety and that of a colleague who had been trapped on the floor and set upon by protesters.
The action sparked outrage from protesters on the streets and many of their supporters watching at home, and will help to galvanize a movement that -- while not exactly flagging -- was starting to attract smaller numbers as police efforts to arrest as many core protesters as possible and shut down demonstrations appeared to be working somewhat.
Video appears to show moment Hong Kong protester was shot01:48
Major escalation
For months now, many in Hong Kong have been wondering when the first death directly caused by the increasingly violent protests would come, and the inevitable escalation in unrest or crackdown that would follow.
Speaking to CNN last week, a senior adviser to Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam -- who spoke on background to be candid about government thinking -- said it was "a miracle" that no one had died. The adviser, echoing the comments of many foreign observers, pointed out that if such unrest was to take place in another jurisdiction, police would likely have already used lethal force.
"Police have been extremely restrained because we've given them strict orders to be restrained," the adviser said. "We don't want to see any major fatalities."
They warned that a death linked to the protests could see the situation escalate on both sides, with more anger and violence from demonstrators, and potentially prompt the use of emergency powers by the government -- as some conservative voices have been calling for for weeks now.
"There have been very strong calls for the introduction of emergency powers," the adviser said. "It could still happen if things go further south ... if somebody dies."
The adviser predicted that the type of emergency powers used could include things like anti-mask laws, extended detention and potentially internet filtering targeting messaging apps like Telegram.
But the adviser was concerned that any declaration of an emergency by the Hong Kong government could enable Beijing to intervene -- the laws which cover the central government doing so are all structured around an emergency situation.
"Declaring an emergency would bring on so much opposition from everywhere, bring you a step closer to Beijing intervention," the adviser told CNN. "If we ourselves declare there is a state of emergency we're halfway there."
Crackdown concerns
While the city's luck appears to be holding -- with the man shot by police in a serious but not immediately critical condition -- firing a live round, even in apparently desperate circumstances, marked a major escalation, and one that may require a response.
Use of lethal force also refocused global media attention on Hong Kong, even as interest in the non-stop protests had been flagging somewhat, particularly with the pomp and ceremony in Beijing as a distraction.
Officials in charge of Tuesday evening's show -- which was stunning in its size and organization -- will have been furious to have their moment, and the country's, upstaged by a part of China that often seems to want nothing to do with the rest of the country.
The primary concern about October 1 in the city was that it would be a reason for the authorities to crack down, but an alternative interpretation argues that such a window will be provided after the festivities in Beijing are over.
Paramilitary troops have been seen on the Hong Kong border, and a large number of military reinforcements were recently moved to the People's Liberation Army garrison in the city. Once Beijing's day in the sun was complete, this theory holds, the Chinese government would have a freer hand to launch a crackdown in Hong Kong.
That Hong Kong already marred China's celebrations, and that the unrest is getting worse and more violent, may embolden those calling for Beijing to take an even firmer hand.
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