Protesters, opponents face off in HK streets

Armed with wooden poles and ransacked road signs, pro-democracy protesters and their opponents fought an extraordinary battle on a Hong Kong street, exposing deep ideological fault lines coursing through the city. Dozens of unidentified men charged onto a road where protesters had been walking and attacked them with long wooden poles on Monday night.

The shocking scenes – captured on film – showed the demonstrators fighting back against the men, pelting them with traffic cones and even turning their aggressors’ weapons against them.

Cars, including taxis and a Mercedes-Benz, were also caught up in the melees as both sides fought over street fencing dividing the thoroughfare.

The men were eventually chased away, with protesters smashing the windows of a nearby building where they believed some of the attackers had taken refuge as a man inside brandished a meat cleaver. The clashes illustrate the polarisation of Hong Kong after two months of pro-democracy protests and clashes that pose the biggest threat to Beijing’s authority since Hong Kong’s handover from the British in 1997.

North Point, a district on the main island where the clashes took place, was historically a communist stronghold during British rule.

It is known for its large community of Fujianese people who migrated from the mainland province in the 1960s and have long maintained strong family and clan links there.

During the 1967 leftist riots – in which more than 50 people died – North Point was often the epicentre of the violence.

Police famously landed by helicopter on the roof of an apartment building and discovered a leftist headquarters.

The riots were sparked by widespread social discontent towards the colonial government over widespread corruption and poverty. But they were also fuelled by the influence of the Cultural Revolution which was raging on the mainland at the time.

Popular opinion soon turned against the leftists who left hundreds of bombs across the city and murdered a wellknown anti-communist radio commentator. Two young children were killed by a bomb left in North Point.

Monday’s clashes in North Point took place during the most sustained and widespread day of battles with Hong Kong police, who fired 800 tear gas canisters in at least a dozen locations and made 148 arrests. — AFP

— Reuters photos Members of a group opposing the anti-government protesters retreat after clashing with people attending a demonstration in support of the city-wide strike and to call for democratic reforms in Hong Kong, China.

Fire on the surface of a road is seen after protesters throw a molotov cocktail towards Wan Chai police headquarters in this still image from video obtained from social media.

Smoke from a tear gas canister that was thrown back by protesters after police threw it at them, is seen at Wan Chai police headquarters in Hong Kong, China.

A protesters uses a slingshot during a demonstration.