Hong Kong police fired tear gas and pepper spray at thousands of protesters on Sunday (May 24).

The protest is the first since a top Chinese official said on Thursday (May 21) that Beijing supports "improving" the system related to Hong Kong's Basic Law, which is its de facto constitution.

Tear gas and pepper spray

The protesters were demonstrating against Beijing’s plan to directly impose national security laws on Hong Kong, reported Reuters.

CNN reported that protesters began gathering around midday on Sunday in Causeway Bay, in spite of heavy police presence islandwide.

The protesters were unsuccessful in their attempts to claim that the march was a permitted "health talk", and police declared the protest illegal and ordered people to disperse.

South China Morning Post (SCMP) wrote that protesters had spread out along roads in Causeway Bay and Wan Chai, and that some set up roadblocks made of dismantled railings and other materials.

Less than one hour after the march began, police fired tear gas at the crowds, according to CNN.

The march reportedly did not receive official authorisation and went against Hong Kong's Covid-19 social distancing restrictions.

Protesters were heard chanting, "Revolution of our time. Liberate Hong Kong," "Fight for freedom, Stand with Hong Kong," and "Hong Kong independence, the only way out," reported Reuters.

According to Reuters, this was the biggest protest that Hong Kong has seen since the Covid-19 lockdowns began.

Protesting Beijing's proposed law

In his speech on Thursday, May 21, Wang Yang, the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) fourth-ranked leader and head of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said that Beijing will push for the "long-term stability of one country, two systems", Reuters reported.

According to another article by SCMP, the central government was planning to table a resolution for the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) to craft and pass a new national security law tailor-made for Hong Kong.

"The move is also significant in that the central government appears to have all but given up hope that Hong Kong’s administration will succeed at passing local legislation on such a law, amid a hostile political environment and deeply divided city," wrote SCMP.

A Beijing source told SCMP the new law would ban all seditious activities aimed at toppling the central government and external interference in Hong Kong.

It also targets terrorist attacks in Hong Kong.

Top photo via Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images.