Hong Kong authorities have taken their repression of peaceful pro-democracy protests one step further. The Hong Kong police are spraying protesters with blue-dye water cannons to mark them so that they can be arrested later. Blue-dye protesters in a bid to ease their arrest! Only a government so repressive can devise such strategies to dissuade protesters from taking to the streets. The influence of China’s mainland autocratic regime can hardly be missing from this machiavellic initiative.

Isobel Asher Hamilton has the story in the Insider.

As flashpoints erupt between protesters and police in Hong Kong, water cannons filled with blue dye are being turned on the protesters.

Hong Kong citizens were out en masse protesting for the thirteenth week in a row on Saturday, despite a police ban on rallying. The protests were sparked in June by a proposed extradition bill by mainland China.

There were flashpoints between the police and protesters on Saturday, with the police deploying tear gas and water cannons, while protesters threw bricks and molotov cocktails, setting fire to barricades.

Police put blue dye in the water cannons directed at protesters, coating the road in a blue wash. The dye is intended to stain protesters, marking them out for later arrest.

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