Police fire pepper spray pellets to the ground to warn lunchtime protesters gathered in Hong Kong’s Central business district. In the first major test of Hong Kong’s protest movement in 2020, it became clear that demonstrators face a more formidable challenge in reigniting the street power that humbled China last year -- and that Beijing’s moves could inspire a shift toward more radical views. On Wednesday, protesters enraged by Beijing’s move to impose sweeping new security laws on Hong Kong planned to gather at the city’s Legislative Council, which was debating a separate law that would criminalize insulting China’s national anthem. Yet they ended up getting nowhere close, and the hearing proceeded as normal -- a far cry from about a year ago, when a mass of people managed to thwart a bill that would allow extraditions to China. Overall, the demonstrations were relatively muted: Heavily fortified security cordons around the legislature prompted pockets of protesters to spread around town, where they were quickly swarmed by riot police who at one point fired pepper-spray projectiles. Officers made around 300 arrests throughout the day as they sought to preempt protesters from gathering in large groups. Instead of battling radicals with Molotov cocktails, police were pictured detaining young students. The show of force clearly had an impact, with the small number of protesters who came out saying they worried about an increased chance of arrest. At the same time, the anger over Beijing’s recent moves and frustration with the Hong Kong government’s failure to push for greater democracy resulted in more overt calls for Hong Kong independence -- a red line for Beijing that protesters had studiously avoided throughout the unrest last year. Read the full article here: Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm QUICKTAKE ON SOCIAL: Follow QuickTake on Twitter: twitter.com/quicktake Like QuickTake on Facebook: facebook.com/quicktake Follow QuickTake on Instagram: instagram.com/quicktake Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2FJ0oQZ Email us at [email protected] QuickTake by Bloomberg is a global news network delivering up-to-the-minute analysis on the biggest news, trends and ideas for a new generation of leaders.