Mood of Hong Kong rally defiant
Tens of thousands gather despite orders to clear protest area
HONG KONG — Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong held one of the largest rallies of their campaign Saturday, a gesture of defiance after attacks on their encampments and a declaration by the territory’s leader that major roads they have occupied for the past week must be cleared by Monday morning.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered at the main protest site at Admiralty, outside government headquarters, after the territory’s embattled leader, Leung Chunying, said that “all actions necessary” would be taken to ensure that government workers could go back to work next week.
“We know that every time they assault us, we resist harder,” Alex Chow Yong Kang, the secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, told the crowd. “And we know we’re on the right path, otherwise the government wouldn’t have been so afraid of us.”
The mood of the rally reflected the turbulence of recent days. Three singers performed a newly written anthem dedicated to the protesters and their symbol, “Raise the Umbrella Together,” as members of the crowd waved their cellphones in the air. But there was also concern about the government’s demands to bring the protests to a halt. Rumors of a crackdown, some suggesting as soon as this morning, circulated among the protesters, many of whom were carrying goggles and surgical masks to guard against pepper spray.
In a speech Saturday afternoon, Leung said the protests are “causing serious repercussion to people’s daily life and income.”
He demanded demonstrators remove their blockade of roads in Hong Kong Island’s Western, Central and Wan Chai districts by Monday and let 3,000 government employees go to work at the main office complex, which has been besieged by protesters.
The government has said for days that it wants demonstrators to call off their occupation of key roads and stop surrounding government offices. At the same time, officials have indicated that they plan to wait out the protests.
Fighting broke out Friday after protest camps came under attack by men who the police believe had gang ties. The Mong Kok district was the scene of more confrontation on Saturday, evidence that a week after the protests began, the conflict has slipped beyond the grip of leaders on either side.
The U. S. Consulate warned Americans on Saturday to avoid protest areas in Hong Kong “due to the potential risk of escalating violence.”
On Saturday morning, the Hong Kong police said 19 men, including eight linked to organized crime gangs, or triads, had been arrested over the violence in Mong Kok. The police also said at least 18 people had been injured in the violence, including six police officers. Those arrested were facing charges of unlawful assembly, fighting in public and assault, Senior Superintendent Patrick Kwok Pak-chung said.
Protest opponents have also sexually harassed or groped some female demonstrators, protesters say.
Early today, sporadic clashes could be seen between a few hundred protesters and more than 100 police officers. An officer was sent away in an ambulance after he was hit in the head by a rock thrown from the crowd.
The attacks on Friday led the leading student group to withdraw from proposed talks with the government, which members blamed for not protecting them.
Protesters and pro-democracy politicians claimed the assaults — and what appeared to be a delayed police reaction — bore the hallmarks of acts by organized crime groups that were condoned by the authorities or at least made worse by a lax official response.
“They vandalized and attacked peaceful occupiers,” Alan Leong Kah-kit, the leader of the Civic Party, one of the city’s pro-democracy parties, said of the attackers at a news conference Saturday.
The democrats, he said, were asking to meet with local officials to “manifest our strongest condemnation and want them to make sure that what happened would not repeat today or in the future.”
Hong Kong’s secretary for security, Lai Tung-kwok, adamantly denied that the police condoned the attacks.
“I am aware of people’s allegation that the government tolerated triad societies or even work with them,” Lai said at a news conference. “These accusations are completely fabricated and unjustified. They are also very unreasonable and unfair to the dutiful, diligent police officers.”
Throughout the afternoon Saturday, the barricades were again besieged by groups of middle-aged men, who screamed at the protesters to leave and ripped away their signs and makeshift traffic barriers.
Quarrels continued to break out throughout the evening, but student stewards rushed in to prevent impassioned debate from escalating into fights.
Adding to the disorder, some residents dumped water from their apartments onto the people below.
“Now, the students are trying to control the government,” complained a man who gave only his first name, Jackie. “If there was a riot on Wall Street in America, they wouldn’t tolerate such troublemaking.”