By Larry Ong, Epoch Times | November 26, 2014
Last Updated: November 26, 2014 11:44 am
A pro-democracy protester (C) holds a placard and a yellow umbrella in front of a line of police in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong on November 26, 2014. (Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images)
Police officers stop the protesters blocking the road after police cleared barricades and tents in Mong Kok district of Hong Kong Wednesday Nov. 26, 2014. Police arrested key student leaders of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests on Wednesday as they cleared barricades in one volatile district, throwing into doubt the future of a 2-month-old movement seeking free elections in the former British colony. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Epoch Times Staff
On Wednesday evening local time, Hong Kong police closed some streets in Mong Kok, forcing the thousands gathered there onto the narrow pavements.
Earlier in the day, police successfully cleared a 1,490 feet (455 meter) stretch of Nathan Road, which was an Occupy movement protest site for nearly two months, and declared the major thoroughfare open at around noon time.
But from around 7:00 to 7:30 p.m., police suddenly returned in force to the areas around Sai Yeung Choi Street and proceeded to lockdown the area. Police prevented passersby from crossing the road, stopped people to ask for their identification, and made some arrests, according to observers on the ground. According to independent journalistKris Cheng, the incident at Sai Yeung Street started when police began pushing people from Nelson Street.
Police also behaved aggressivelytowards passersby and journalist, and they were seen donning riot gear and wheeling in yellow ladder platforms that they used to make announcements and fire tear sprays at pro-democracy protesters during the clearing of Mong Kok.
More people started surging into the cramped pavements on Sai Yeung Choi Street during the police lockdown, and they slowly spilled over into the nearby Nathan Road, Argyle Street, Soy Street, and Shantung Street as the night drew on. Police have likewise spread out to those areas to prevent people from crossing the road.
Besides taunting the police and crying for “true universal suffrage,” the crowd, who appear to comprise mainly pro-democracy supporters, also repeatedly chanted, “We want to shop!” in Mandarin instead of Cantonese. Observers note that the people switched to Mandarin in mockery of Chinese mainlanders who frequent the area for shopping.
https://twitter.com/tomgrundy/status/537646424163250176
https://twitter.com/tomgrundy/status/537602544214622209/photo/1
The “shopping” chants are likely a response to a press statement by hugely unpopular Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Leung told Hong Kong citizens to return to Mong Kok and shop after the protest site is cleared to boost flagging businesses in the commercial neighborhood.
At present, it is unclear if the crowd surge is a planned move by pro-democracy protesters to retake Mong Kok.
News is breaking, check back for updates.
http://m.theepochtimes.com/n3/1105669-hong-kong-police-stop-people-from-shopping-in-mong-kok-lockdown/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
