Joshua Wong and other Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders arrested ahead of rallies - CNN

Joshua Wong, who led the massive pro-democracy protests in 2014, and fellow activist Agnes Chow were arrested Friday morning, pro-democracy group Demosisto and police confirmed.

Outspoken pro-democracy politician Rick Hui, a member of the Sha Tin District Council, was also arrested Friday on suspicion of "obstructing the police officers in the performance of their duty." The charge relates to Hui's alleged participation in a rally in Sha Tin, in Hong Kong's New Territories.

Anti-government campaigner Andy Chan, not affiliated with Demosisto, was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport on Thursday night, according to police.

Their arrests could further inflame tensions in the city ahead of planned anti-government protests this weekend.

On Friday, the organizer of Saturday's planned mass rally, the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), announced they were canceling the march after failing to secure permission from police.

"Our first principle is always to protect all the participants and make sure that no one bears legal consequences because of participating in the protest that we organized," said CHRF vice convener Bonnie Leung.

Activists could face 5 years in prison

Police charged Wong, 22, with "inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly", "organizing unauthorized assembly" and " knowingly participating in an unauthorized assembly."

Demosisto tweeted Friday that Wong was "forcefully pushed into a private minivan on the street in broad daylight" near a subway station in a southern district on Hong Kong Island at around 7:30 am, local time.

Chow, also 22 and a former Demosisto Legislative Council candidate, was charged with "inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly" and "knowingly participating in unauthorized assembly."

The pair could face five years in jail if convicted of the most serious charge of "inciting others to participate in unlawful assembly." They are expected to appear in court later on Friday.

Police said that Chan was charged with "suspicion of rioting" and "assaulting a police officer."

Founder of the outlawed Hong Kong National Party, Chan was among eight arrested in early August for possession of offensive weapons and suspected bomb-making materials.

Demosisto said on Friday that the arrests were meant to "spread fear" and that there is now "no room for dialogue" with the government.

"When they are creating figures that lead the whole movement, they are creating common figures and telling the people that they are the leaders controlling everything," Isaac Cheng, the Vice Chairperson of Demosisto told CNN.

"They want to get the so-called 'leaders' of the movement, in order to let other people be afraid they'll be next," Cheng said.

Pro-democracy Demosisto party member Agnes Chow speaks to passing pedestrians in Hong Kong on June 4, 2017.

On Friday, there was confusion within the group over whether an arrest warrant had been issued for former party chair Ivan Lam. The group later tweeted that he had not been arrested. CNN has not confirmed Lam's whereabouts and has reached out to police for comment.

The director of Amnesty International Hong Kong described the arrests as an "outrageous assault on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly."

"This past week, we have seen scare tactics straight out of Beijing's playbook: pro-democracy protest organizers attacked by thugs, prominent activists arrested after being snatched from their homes and streets, and a major rally planned for Saturday banned," said Man-kei Tam.

The chief organizer of Hong Kong's largest protest was attacked Thursday by masked men carrying a baseball bat and knife in the Kowloon neighborhood of Jordan.

The CHRF said Jimmy Sham, the group's convenor, and his friend were attacked in a restaurant. The friend was taken to the hospital for injuries, and Sham was not injured, said a CHRF spokesperson. Hong Kong Police say they arrived on the scene shortly after the report and are searching for two suspects.

Chinese troop movement ahead of planned rallies

Last weekend saw a return to violence after a week of relative calm in Hong Kong. Numerous clashes between protesters and police have been a common occurrence since early summer.

But that violence escalated on Sunday, when a Hong Kong police officer fired a live shot into the air and water cannons were used for the first time. Protesters used traffic cones and street railings to build makeshift barricades in the street, and threw bricks, metal poles, and petrol bombs at police, in one of the most violent nights seen since the mass pro-democracy protests began.

The three arrests come as China said it was rotating fresh military troops to the Hong Kong garrison.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said the China's People's Liberation Army troop "rotation" in Hong Kong was a "routine arrangement" and the timing was "similar to previous rotations."

China has stationed troops in Hong Kong since it was turned over to the Chinese in 1997 from Great Britain.

The People's Liberation Army troop movements were carried out in the dead of the night and took place at the same time as a rotation of the garrison in neighboring Macao. They were announced by Chinese state media early Thursday morning.

But the movement sparked skepticism among United States defense officials.

"This is the time to start worrying," one unnamed US official told CNN. The specific concern in the next few days is that the Chinese troop movements, including tactical vehicles and personnel carriers, puts Beijing's forces into a more immediate position to crack down on pro-democracy rallies.

"We are monitoring the Chinese military movements in and around Hong Kong closely," Pentagon Lt. Col. David Eastburn said in a statement. "We stand with the G7 countries in calling for violence to be avoided and in reaffirming the importance of the Sino-British Joint Declaration."

Wong has been jailed before

Wong was the face of the 2014 Umbrella Movement and has been a visible fixture of the recent protests, giving media appearances and offering commentary on his Twitter feed.

He was released from prison in June, a day after protest organizers said 2 million Hong Kongers took to the streets to march against the extradition bill with China. He walked free after serving one month of a two month sentence related to the 2014 protests.

In August 2017, Wong, and two other leaders of the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests, Nathan Law and Alex Chow, were sentenced to between six and eight months in prison for public order offenses stemming from the protests, which shut down parts of the city for several months.

They were originally given community service and suspended sentences, but an appeals court controversially upgraded that to prison time. A decision in February 2018 quashed their prison sentences and reinstates the initial ruling.

Chow, also a member of Demosisto, was barred from standing for election in 2018, after authorities extended a blanket ban on pro-independence candidates to also include those who advocate self-determination for the city.

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