Deadline for Hong Kong protest
Collision appears likely as leader tells demonstrators to clear the streets by Monday
HONGKONG— Pro- democracy protesters in Hong Kong and the Beijingbacked government appeared to be on a collision course Saturday night as the city’s chief executive issued a stern warning that people should clear the streets and protest leaders staged a defiant rally drawing tens of thousands.
“Themosturgent thing is that the government headquarters’ entrances and exits must be kept clear on Monday, so 3,000 government staff can go to work normally and serve citizens,” Chief Executive Leung Chun- ying said in a televised address. “The roads … must no longer be blocked, so all schools can resume classes onMonday.”
Leung took note of violence Friday as opponents of the protests assaulted prodemocracy demonstrators, but he did not directly address demonstrators’ complaints that police had failed to act forcefully enough to protect them. Police said they arrested 19 people, including eight with links to triad criminal gangs.
“It was very chaotic, injuring many people, including members of the press,” said Leung. “The government strongly condemns all people’s violent behavior. If the incident continues, it is very likely to keep going out of control, causing serious effects on citizens’ safety and social order.”
But supporters of the movement that has brought traffic to a halt in several key districts of Hong Kong for a week showed no sign of giving in. A massive crowd packed the Admiralty district, where the government headquarters is located, for an 8 p. m. rally.
The rally kicked off with witness accounts, at times emotional, of violence targeting protesters in Mong Kok and Causeway Bay on Friday. But the recollections of painwere soon eclipsedby upbeat performances of songs composed by local stars for the protest movement.
“This is no longer a student movement but a Hong Kong people’s movement,” said Alex Chow, secretarygeneral of the Hong Kong Federation of Students. “We’re fearless. We’re undaunted.”
The federation presented a united front with the two other groups spearheading the protest, Occupy Central With Love and Peace and the student group Scholarism.
Chow told reporters after the rally that volunteer “stewards” would be on the lookout for any indications that police were preparing to clear protesters by force.
Tensions later flared in the MongKok neighborhood as police with batons and shields deployed early Sunday to a street where the two camps were again facing off. Several people, including at least one police officer, were injured.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 and was promised a high degree of autonomy for 50 years under a framework known as “one country, two systems.”
The protesters are demanding the reversal of guidelines for the 2017 election issued by mainland authorities last month. The framework would, for the first time, allow Hong Kong’s 5 million eligible voters to cast ballots for chief executive but said the number of candidates would be limited to two or three and would have to be approved by a Beijing- backed screening committee.
The demonstrators have derided that requirement as “fake democracy.”
On Thursday, student protest leaders and Leung’s administration appeared to be on the path to negotiations. Besieged by protesters at his office and facing a midnight deadline to resign, Leung refused to step down but said one of his top aides, Carrie Lam, would hold talks with the Federation of Students.
But before a time, place and other parameters for discussions could be worked out, violence erupted Friday as opponents of the pro- democracy demonstrations assailed a sit- in in Mong Kok, a densely packed, working- class commercial district, and other areas.
Angry men, some suspected by protesters of being linked to the triad gangs, ripped down canopies and other equipment that the democracy protesters had setup at thekey intersection of Nathan Road and Argyle Street.
Police arrived and spent hours trying to keep the two sides apart, but scuffles broke out and punches were thrown.
In the wake of the violence, the protest groups said they were suspending plans to talk with the government.
“We are peaceful, but these people came in and hit and pushed students and police didn’t do anything,” said Jayce Lau, who was hanging a banner in Admiralty. Its message: “Desire for true democracy will not be defeated by police- mob collaboration and paid thugs.”