Asia Pacific
HK protesters clash with masked men
POSTED: UPDATED:
HONG KONG: Hong Kong police on Monday (Oct 13) detained several people, after pro-democracy protesters clashed with dozens of masked men in Admiralty district.
According to the South China Morning Post, a 500-strong group of men, many wearing surgical masks, had attacked protesters and rushed barricades at the site, hours after police removed some of the barriers to shrink the site.
Protesters, who have come under attack from organised crime gangs at another flashpoint rally site in Mongkok, shouted: "Weapons! Weapons!" and "Arrest the triads". Television footage showed one masked man being forced to drop a small flick-knife.
Pro-democracy demonstrators shout slogans at anti-Occupy protesters (not in picture) in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong. (AFP PHOTO / Pedro Ugarte)
Taxi drivers, many of whom have voiced frustration with more than two weeks of protests which have blocked roads and caused traffic gridlock, added to the fray by converging on the site in their cars, beeping horns and shouting at demonstrators. Some had "We can't take it any more" printed on the fronts of their cabs.
Other groups opposed to the "Occupy" pro-democracy campaign also appeared at Admiralty, chanting "Occupy is illegal" and demanding that roads be reopened.
A man confronts a pro-democracy protester (C) in the Central district of Hong Kong, as masked men clashed with demonstrators. (AFP PHOTO / ALEX OGLE)
Police formed a line in front of the anti-Occupy protesters as trucks with cranes arrived on the scene and began removing barricades, an AFP photographer saw.
Moments earlier Hong Kong's embattled leader Leung Chun-ying had told reporters in the Chinese city of Guangzhou that he wanted the protests to end.
"Under the appropriate situation we hope to allow society to return to normal as quickly as possible," he said on the sidelines of a trade meeting.
POLICE "DO WHAT THEY WANT"
The demonstrators are calling for Beijing to grant full democracy to the former British colony and have brought parts of Hong Kong to a standstill over the last fortnight, prompting clashes with elements who oppose the blockades and widespread disruption.
Despite repeated orders to disperse, the rallies have taken on an air of permanence, with tents, portable showers and lecture venues.
Tents set up by pro-democracy demonstrators are seen at a protest site in Hong Kong. (AFP PHOTO / Philippe Lopez)
Police took down some peripheral barricades in a dawn operation allowing traffic to pass around the site for the first time in two weeks - they said that they were intent on clearing blockages to traffic rather than ending the protests outright. The overall atmosphere had been calm as small groups of protesters worked to reestablish barricades within police lines.
But some protesters voiced anger at what they saw as a police swoop.
"There was no warning in advance whatsoever. It was nasty," student protester Lanny Li told AFP. Li said the occupied area is shrinking, making it more vulnerable.
"This is the last line of defence for the people near the government offices," said Cherry Yuen as she sat in front of metal barriers 50 metres from police lines. "The police just want to trick us again. We won't move and I'm ready to get arrested."
"The police refuse to communicate with us, they just do what they want," said Wong King-wa, 25.
Some protesters in Admiralty wielded umbrellas, which have become emblematic of the Hong Kong movement, to guard against any police pepper spray. Many of those who remained near the police lines wore protective goggles and masks.
At least two dozen police vans were parked close to Admiralty, in Central, Monday morning. Some officers around the site were carrying helmets and riot shields, though police numbers dropped mid-morning, AFP reporters said. The police statement Monday said that some barricades had already been removed at the Mongkok site.
"I'm angry because this umbrella movement belongs to the Hong Kong students. The police (should not be) our enemy but our friends," Kim Kwan, a 21-year-old student, told AFP, criticising Monday's intervention.
- CNA/AFP/xq
