Activists suspect ‘ triad gangs’ behind attack
Masked men launch an assault on protesters, police begin dismantling some of the barricades
SHANGHAI — Dozens of masked men launched an assault Monday on pro- democracy protesters camped out on the streets of Hong Kong.
Witnesses described chaotic scenes as the men, many of whom were wearing blue surgical masks, appeared at a key Occupy Central protest site near the main business district .
Scuffles ensued as the men attempted to remove the metal barricades that protesters were using to protect their position near Hong Kong’s government headquarters.
Television images captured one member of the group brandishing a pocket knife and the website of Apple Daily, a local newspaper, claims a number of the mob had been carrying “sharp weapons.”
Kris Cheng, a Hong Kong writer who was present, said pro- democracy protesters had formed a human chain to protect themselves from the offensive. “Nobody knows who these masked men are but people think they are triads,” he said.
Earlier Monday, Hong Kong’s police admitted that up to 200 gang members from two of the city’s major triad groups had infiltrated the protest camps, possibly in order to stir up violence that would discredit demonstrators.
Chu Wai- ho, a 32- year- old protester who witnessed the confrontation, told the South China Morning Post: “I can’t believe the anti- Occupy Central people actually took the step of organizing what look like triad members to break up our peaceful protests. The police tried to keep them under control but they were outnumbered. This is a major international financial hub. I can’t believe they’re doing this in full view of many foreigners and working professionals.”
Many of the men involved in trying to break up the protest spoke the Mandarin Chinese of mainland China rather than Hong Kong’s Cantonese, witnesses said.
There also appeared to have been ordinary Hong Kongers among the crowds, including taxi drivers and truck drivers who are upset at the protests’ impact on their work.
Severe traffic jams have blighted the former colony since students and activists began the so- called Umbrella Revolution in late September.
Protesters hope that China’s Communist rulers will allow them to choose their own candidates for Hong Kong’s 2017 leadership election rather than have Beijing decide who becomes the territory’s chief executive.
On Sunday, Leung Chun- ying, Hong Kong’s current chief executive, said there was “almost zero” chance of that happening and warned that the protests had “spun out of control.”
Police began dismantling some of the barricades encircling the three protest camps Monday, although many were later rebuilt.
In a statement, authorities “urged people gathering illegally on the roads to end their occupy movements as soon as possible in order not to prolong the serious repercussions caused to people’s daily lives and work.”