STAFF REPORTERS
PUBLISHED : Monday, 29 September, 2014, 8:16am
UPDATED : Monday, 29 September, 2014, 1:08pm
Good afternoon and welcome to Hong Kong's live coverage of Occupy Central.
After a night of protesters taking to the streets and sleeping on main roads throughout the city, dawn broke with no sign that the demonstrations would ease off.
There is widespread disruption across the city today. Stay tuned for all the breaking news.
1.04pm: Hong Kong or Vanilla Sky? Deathly quiet Chater Road resembles a scene from the Tom Cruise movie where everyone vanishes from New York...
Hong Kong as you've never seen it - empty!
12.45pm: Commentary in Chinese state mediahas taken an unsurprisingly critical tone of the protests. The state-run Global Times carried an English-language editorial this morning which said that “the radical activists are doomed.”
In a hastily deleted article on the paper’s Chinese language website, it was suggested that the People’s Armed Police, the nation's paramilitary force, could assist Hong Kong police in putting down the protests. “Support from the armed forces could quickly restore stability” in the city, the article said.
12.35pm: Hong Kong Bar Association says in a statement it is "deeply disturbed by, and deplores and condemns, the excessive and disproportionate use of force" by police yesterday.
"There can be scope for disagreement on the underlying political debate or demands leading to the demonstration. Some demonstrators may have committed criminal offences," it stated. "However, none of the above matters justify the use of excessive or disproportionate force by police against unarmed civilians as a matter of law and common decency."
Stood down? Police armed with what appear to be shotguns and teargas launchers sit on steps to an overpass. Photo: SCMP
12.15pm: The US Consulate General has issued a statement:
The United States strongly supports Hong Kong's well-established traditions and Basic Law protections of internationally recognized fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press. We do not take sides in the discussion of Hong Kong's political development, nor do we support any particular individuals or groups involved in it.
Hong Kong's stability and prosperity have long benefited from a vigorous dialogue among its citizens and a firmly established tradition of the peaceful and orderly expression of differing views. In accordance with this tradition, we encourage all sides to refrain from actions that would further escalate tensions, to exercise restraint, and to express views on the SAR's political future in a peaceful manner.
12.08pm: The Education Bureau says it “deeply regrets” the move of the Professional Teachers’ Union - the largest trade union of teachers in the city - to call on secondary school teachers to go on strike. It has appealed to teachers to be “professional” and not to disrupt students’ studies.
Meanwhile students in other schools have boyoctted classes. Ming Kei College students are out of their classrooms, according to Scholarism, which posted photos on its Facebook page showing the whole school gathered in the hall, singing and share their thoughts. Some students of Baptist University are also having an assembly on campus.
Police have barricaded the upper part of Cotton Hill Drive, near Hong kong Park.
Lawmaker Albert Ho Chun-yan, who is joining the rally outside SOGO in Causeway Bay, said he was arrested and detained for 10 hours yesterday and was released at 10pm. He said the police told him he could still be charged despite his release.
Ho condemned the police's using tear gas against protesters.
"The police were being totally unreasonable," he said. "There was no need to apply such physical force against such peaceful people."
Protesters block the roads in Causeway Bay. Photo: SCMP
11.50am: Labour Party chairman Lee Cheuk-Yan was in tears when he said: "We have lost hope in our government, so the only solution is for Leung to step down, and for the national legislature to retract its decision on Hong Kong political reform."
"We are proud of our people ... Because they stepped back in face of tear gas, but came forward again peacefully... without damaging any public property."
11.40am: Bizarre scenes outside Sogo in Causeway Bay, where an elderly woman wielding a stick wrapped in red cloth attacked a protester.
Lam Po-ying said she was taking a bus from Aberdeen to Central to see a Chinese medicine doctor, but the bus detoured to Causeway Bay, so she got off and tried to see what was happening.
She said one of the protesters swore at her so she lashed out. Lam said she refused to support the protesters because of the inconvenience they caused.
11.33am: Riot police have been taken off the streets as "citizens have mostly calmed down", the government says.
A statement on the government website, posted only in Chinese, says that main traffic thoroughfares have been severely congested due to roadblocks by demonstrating citizens.
In the statement a government spokesperson calls on demonstrators blocking roads to disperse soon and clear paths for traffic, so as to let emergency vehicles pass and partially restore public transport service.
The statement calls on people to remain calm and disperse peacefully as soon as possible.
11.25am: Twenty-three pan-democrat lawmakers have issued a joint statement, calling for an emergency meeting to debate on a motion to impeach Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying.
Reading the statement on behalf of the camp, Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit said the pan-democrats would "safeguard the people's non-cooperative movement and call for Leung to step down".
"We urge the administration to stop suppressing the people violently, it should talk to the people; it should also re-open Civic Square and resume the people's reasonable right to use the area," he said - referring to the government headquarters' forecourt which was broken into by student activists on Friday.
Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing said the violence used by the government has "shocked" the international community.
11.05am: Pupils of two more schools have walked out of classrooms and gone 'on strike' - Po Leung Kuk Vicwood K. T. Chong Sixth Form College and SFTA Lee Shau Kee College.
Liu Cheuk-laam, a form 6 student from the school who faced tear gas in Admiralty last night, said: “We’re in a totally different situation now after the tear gas. All students should protest."
Po Leung Kuk Vicwood K. T. Chong Sixth Form College
10.51am: Alex Mak Ying-kit, a 52-year-old stockbroker, lives in Repulse Bay and works in Sheung Wan. He took the bus to Causeway Bay and walked for more than an hour to get to his work, but said he didn't mind because he got to witness the protests. He said he was disappointed with the government for not listening to the people.
"I never thought the protest would have gone on for so long, and I would have joined in if more people had stayed." Mak said. "As a Hong Konger, if you don't make an effort like this, then it'll be curtains for Hong Kong within five years."
10.30am: Demonstrators on Connaught Road have been picking up litter as some hand out food and water.
In Admiralty protesters have moved plant pots onto tram tracks to stop the traffic.
In some areas of the city those on their way to work have cheered protesters for their actions.
In Causeway Bay those occupying the streets sheltered under umbrellas/ Photo: SCMP
Mr Chan, 51, who is in the accounting business, said the government had “underestimated the power of the people”.
Rosa Lai-Yuen-bing, a 50-year-old housewife with two children, said she had stayed with protesters until 4am, despite her 11-year-old daughter pleading with her not to be outside. “CY Leung should come and talk to us,” she said.
In Causeway Bay free breakfasts are being handed out.
10.02am: Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 1.43 per cent in the opening 15 minutes of trade. Property shares were the big early fallers, down around 2.6 per cent, while finance shares slightly outperformed the market, down around 1.1 per cent.
Meanwhile many jewellery shops in Mong Kok are closed.
In Causeway Bay shopkeepers and managers are still deciding whether to open up in many areas.
Department store Sogo will open at 10am, security guards said. But management were seen guarding the front entrance. Many shops in Lockhart Road remain closed.
9.25am: About 200 students from CNEC Lee I Yao Memorial Secondary School in Kwai Tsing District have gone on strike, according to Lee Shing-ho, a Form 6 student from the school. The strikers are sitting on the school’s playground and in the hall.
“The senior students took the initiative to leave their classrooms. This is not a strike led by the teachers. We want to protest police’s violent behaviour,” Lee, a co-organiser of the strike said.
He said several other schools in the same district had also seen walkouts.
Students at the CNEC Lee I Yao Memorial Secondary School in Kwai Tsing District have left their classrooms and gone on strike
9am: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched an emergency contingency plan to ensure the smooth running of financial markets.
The city’s de facto central bank said in a statement that it would keep the interbank market and the city’s currency board mechanism operating as usual.
As of 0700 on Monday in Hong Kong some 17 banks had announced the temporary closure of 29 branches in affected areas. The branches would remain closed until further notice the HKMA said.
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8.38am: Scores of protesters are drawn to Queensway, opposite Pacific Place, where police have set up a defensive line of about 50 officers. After a minor standoff they head back to Harcourt Road.
Crowds occupying Hennessey Road outside Sogo begin to thin as the sun rises. Umbrellas brought to fend of pepper spray are now being used to shield tired protesters from the sunshine.
Protesters are still occupying Gloucester Road in Admiralty.
Ken Chung, street dance artist and arts administrator, 28, said he has been volunteering to co-ordinate the first aid operations and supplies donation in Admiralty and Causeway Bay.
Volunteers continue to bring food and water supplies to Causeway Bay. Chung said there is enough water, food and masks for those in need.
8.35am: A logo for the protest? 'Umbrella revolution' symbol shared on Twitter - referring to the brollies protesters were using to block police pepper spray.
8.20am: Around Admiralty police are demanding some people show their ID cards if they want to cross cordons in order to get to work.
Announcements in Admiralty MTR stationstate that exits A, B and C2 are closed due to damage.
Police continued to use teargas until the early hours of the this morning, but protesters refused to back down. Photo: SCMP
Choking fumes: Protesters duck to the floor to try and escape the gas fumes. Photo: SCMP
8.05am: Headaches are on the cards for many parents as they struggle to make alternative arrangements for their children due to a raft of school closures. Overnight it was announced that all schools in Central, Wan Chai and Western areas would be cancelled.
Meanwhile meetings of all Legco committees and visits to the Legco complex have been cancelled today, the government announces.
8am: Thousands are still occupying roads in Admiralty, Mong Kok, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay. As traffic gets heavier delays are increasingly likely.
More than 200 bus services have been suspended or re-routed around the hotspots.
Mr Ngai, an office worker living in the Southern District, said he had set off from home half an hour earlier than usual because the bus he usually took was re-routed. But he had no complaints about the traffic disruption caused by the protest. "It is understandable," he said.
HKEx’s securities and derivatives markets will continue to operate as normal, it was announced this morning.
7.40am Police "negotiators" flanked by officers from media liaison groups use a loudspeaker and ask protesters to leave Harcourt Road.
"You can help other people get to work. This would be a great step to help many citizens. Many people will be able to get to work and they will be very grateful.
"Show your sincerity in front of the media and other citizens."
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1603762/live-severe-disruption-expected-day-dawns-occupied-hong-kong
