Explosives found in Hong Kong as rally supports police,china,hong kong

The largest discovery in Hong Kong of an explosive material favoured by terrorists and dubbed the "mother of satan" has been described as "deeply troubling" by Hong Kong police on the eve of more protests.

An unnamed 27-year-old member of the Hong Kong National Front, a small independence group headed by political activist Baggio Leung, has been arrested by police after a raid on a warehouse used for bomb making.

Mr Leung was expelled from the Legislative Council for insulting China as he took his oath of office in 2016, after Beijing intervened in a court case. He had been popularly elected.

TATP, or triacetone triperoxide, can be manufactured using household ingredients and recipes found on the internet, according to scientists, but is highly unstable.

National Front said in a statement it was using the warehouse to store promotional and audio equipment and didn't know why 2 kilograms of TATP explosives were found there.

Police displayed to television cameras another 10 petrol bombs, sling shots, knives, loudspeakers and t-shirts with slogans opposing the extradition bill, that were also discovered in the warehouse, on the eve of another planned protest march. Police said they were investigating if there were any links to the protests.

Carrie Lam's government last year banned another pro-independence political party, the Hong Kong National Party, on national security grounds after Chinese president Xi Jinping outlined that separatism wouldn't be tolerated by Beijing.

Protest marches since June have called for greater democracy and universal suffrage, not independence.

Mrs Lam has condemned young protesters for violence that broke out after a march last Sunday at the Sha Tin shopping mall.

The police raid and display of the petrol bombs on television is likely to heighten concern that Sunday's protest could also end in conflict between protesters and police.

A large rally in support of police and condemning violence was briefly held at Tamar Park outside the Legislative Council on Saturday evening.

Police estimated around 100,000 people had attended the Safeguard Hong Kong rally, which was organised by pro-Beijing politicians and saw large numbers of community groups from the New Territories arriving together and assembling behind banners which proclaimed their ancestral links to China.

Many said they had come to simply support police and call for peace.

Ken Kong, 50, said he was glad the extradition bill that sparked the protests was gone, but he was unhappy at the recent violence.

"We have many problems waiting for us to resolve, but as a citizen born in Hong Kong, I want peace. Speak out, but according to the law. Don't hurt anyone," he said.

"The most violent people are a small group and they don't represent the citizens going to the parades."

Nelson Chan, 63, said: "I hate violence. The teenagers should be re-educated on what is black and white, and what is wrong and right."

He said he was a school child when Hong Kong was rattled by bombings in 1967 amid riots spurred on by leftists, and didn't like the level of violence that had appeared at last week's Sha Tin protest.

Yoga teacher Catherine, 43, said she was born in Hong Kong, studied at university in London, and now worked in the United States and from what she had seen overseas she believed that Hong Kong police were "a good team".

She said protesters had thrown dog food at police in Sha Tin last Sunday.

"Some protesters are really peaceful but we should admit there's a team of people going into the protest to do the wrong thing," she said.

Another businesswoman said she was angry at the young protesters who "don't pay tax or contribute anything and are just trying to destroy things".

"I like that Hong Kong is part of China. My parents migrated from the mainland and we worked hard," she said, before explaining that she needed to leave the rally to go and get a facial.

Many in the crowd dispersed after a short time.

Meanwhile the Civil Human Rights Front, which organised the earlier marches against the extradition bill that had attracted up to 2 million people in June, said it was disappointed that police had demanded Sunday's march be cut short and wouldn't be permitted to pass the police headquarters or parliament precinct.

Hong Kong police headquarters, which were beseiged twice last month by protesters, were surrounded by 2-metre high water-filled barriers in preparation for the latest march.

The Safeguard Hong Kong rally, and images of boats carrying supportive banners in Hong Kong harbour, were shown on the main news bulletin on CCTV, the mainland state news channel.

In a statement National Front said: "The man who was arrested in tsuen wan factory building today is a member of the organization and has been assisted by a lawyer.

It is understood that the warehouse has been used only as a storage of stereo and other promotional materials, and why there are explosives in the unit. There are further news that we will announce it as soon as possible."

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