By Jessie Pang
HONG&nbsp;KONG&nbsp;(Reuters) - A&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;women's&nbsp;rights&nbsp;group&nbsp;cancelled&nbsp;a demonstration at the last minute on Saturday&nbsp;after&nbsp;police&nbsp;said violent groups might want to join the&nbsp;protest.
The&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;Women Workers&rsquo; Association was originally granted permission by&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;police&nbsp;to hold a rare public&nbsp;protest&nbsp;on Sunday ahead of International&nbsp;Women's&nbsp;Day, calling for labour&nbsp;rights, women&rsquo;s&nbsp;rights&nbsp;and gender equality.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
But the association said on its Facebook page late on Saturday it had regrettably decided to cancel the march without giving a reason. It could not immediately be reached for further comment.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
This would have been the first major civil&nbsp;rights&nbsp;protest&nbsp;to be approved by&nbsp;police&nbsp;in the city for several years.
China imposed a national security law on the city amid the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020, leading to most applications by pro-democracy groups for public demonstrations being rejected by the&nbsp;police, largely on social distancing grounds.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Asked whether the&nbsp;police&nbsp;wanted to avoid a&nbsp;protest&nbsp;which might have embarrassed Beijing during China's annual parliamentary session, the National People's Congress, Senior Superintendent Dennis Cheng told reporters the organisers decided to cancel the march&nbsp;after&nbsp;weighing up different unspecified factors.
Cheng added that some "violent groups" wanted to join the&nbsp;protest, without identifying the groups.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
The&nbsp;police&nbsp;had previously issued a "no objection" letter with the condition that the organisers ensure the&nbsp;protest&nbsp;would not run contrary to the interests of national security.&nbsp;But&nbsp;after&nbsp;the organisers&nbsp;cancelled,&nbsp;police&nbsp;issued a statement saying anyone taking part would therefore be participating in an unauthorised event.&nbsp;&nbsp;
"Any persons who continue to assemble in the relevant locations tomorrow would be considered (to be) participating in an unauthorised assembly," the statement said, adding they would be liable to a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.
China imposed a national security law on&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;in 2020 outlawing acts including subversion with up to life in prison.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
The law has been criticised by some Western governments as a tool to crush dissent, but the Chinese and&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;governments say the law has restored stability to the city&nbsp;after&nbsp;protracted pro-democracy&nbsp;protests in 2019.
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(Reporting by Jessie Pang; Editing by David Holmes)

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Hong Kong women's rights protest cancelled after police cite risk of violence