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September 28, 2015

The Occupy Central live blog: one year on

South China Morning Post - Hong Kong feed Sep 28, 00:26

The first 12 hours

2014-09-28

“Thousands have taken to the streets, with protests spreading and some of the city’s busiest thoroughfares paralysed. Police have used pepper spray againt the demonstrators and anumber of police have been injured.”

The first night

2014-09-28

“On Sunday night and in the early hours of Monday there were dramatic scenes in Central and Admiralty as police used tear gas, batons and pepper spray as they tried to disperse protesters. But the crowds would not be deterred, and thousands more have occupied Causeway Bay and Mong Kok.”

The day after

2014-09-29

“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”

Night Two

2014-09-29

“Tens of thousands of people are still occupying streets across the city, demanding democratic reforms from Beijing. Police have largely kept a low profile overnight, after resorting to the use of tear gas and pepper spray on Sunday.”

Day Three

2014-09-30

“Large crowds took to the streets last night, converging on sites in Hong Kong and Kowloon, causing more disruption this morning. CY Leung today acknowledged that the protests would likely last "a long time" but said Beijing would not back down on democracy.”

Night Three

2014-09-30

“Thunderstorms failed to deter huge crowds from gathering in spots around Hong Kong last night, where the umbrellas that had been used to fend off tear gas attacks two days earlier were put to their more traditional use.”

Day Four: National Day

2014-10-01

“Overnight the crowds of protesters that have locked down the streets of Hong Kong were battered by heavy rain as the National Day holiday began. This morning Scholarism students protested at the National Day flag-raising ceremony, while chief executive CY Leung and officials toasted the occasion.”

Night Four

2014-10-01

“Protests are expected to ramp up a gear today after student leaders set Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying a deadline of Thursday evening to resign before they start occupying government buildings. So far, Leung has refused to budge, raising a toast with mainland officials at the National Day flag-raising ceremony yesterday morning against a backdrop of jeering protesters outside.”

Day Five

2014-10-02

“The city awoke today to its fifth consecutive day of protest, with students warning that demonstrations could be ramped up if Chief Executive CY Leung doesn't resign before the day is out. So far, Leung has refused to budge, with students now threatening to occupy government buildings.”

Night Five

2014-10-02

“Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has vowed not to resign despite an ultimatum from students demanding that he step down. Leung announced minutes before the midnight deadline set by the students that he had appointed his deputy Carrie Lam to lead a team of senior officials to meet with student leaders.”

Day Six

2014-10-03

“Anti-Occupy sentiments are on the rise throughout Hong Kong as annoyed residents, business owners and anti-Occupy activists get into quarrels and clashes with protesters holding out in Causeway Bay, Admiralty and Mong Kok.”

Night Six

2014-10-03

“There were clashes in several parts of the city today as anti-Occupy groups took to the streets to confront demonstrators in Causeway Bay and Mong Kok, where police arrested a number of people and several protesters were injured.”

Day Seven

2014-10-04

“Pan-democrat lawmakers have called last night's violence in Mong Kok an orchestrated attack by the government and triad gangs on demonstrators. Eighteen people were injured in the violence, including six police officers. Police arrested 19 people, some of whom they said had "triad backgrounds".”

Night Seven

2014-10-04

“A tense night followed Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's stark warning that government offices and schools "must" reopen by Monday after former pan-democrat lawmaker Cheung Man-Kwong warned that Occupy is in a "very dangerous situation" that has to be resolved “in a very short period of time".”

Day Eight

2014-10-05

“In a statement, the government called for main roads in Admiralty to be re-opened and requested that a bridge connecting the government offices to surrounding streets be cleared to allow civil servants access to the buildings.”

Night Eight

2014-10-05

“Occupy supporters and the government are currently at deadlock over negotiations. Preliminary discussions to prepare for talks with Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor have begun, but progress has been slow with both sides disagreeing on the guidelines behind the meetings.”

Day Nine

2014-10-06

“After a hectic week, Occupy Central protest sites are quiet on Monday as some demonstrators leave for work, others remain and authorities keep their distance. Occupy supporters and the government are currently in a deadlock over negotiations.”

Night Nine

2014-10-06

“Things are relatively quiet overnight as people leave the protest zones and return to work. Many, however, are adamant they will stay and are hopeful of a positive outcome.”

Day 10

2014-10-07

“With the number of protesters continuing to dwindle as the Occupy Central protests enter their tenth night we have decided to discontinue our continuous live blog from 11.30pm tonight. We will start a new live blog from 8am tomorrow morning, which will continue throughout the day. If there is any breaking news overnight, we plan to reinstate scmp.com's live blog immediately.”

Day 11

2014-10-08

“An Australian newspaper has published a report questioning an alleged undisclosed payment of HK$49.9 million from an Australian firm that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying received but failed to disclose upon assuming office. The Age report said Leung's office responded by saying he did not have to disclose the payment.”

Day 12

2014-10-09

“Federation of Students leader Lester Shum has called on protesters to take to the streets on Friday at 7.30pm for a mass rally in Harcourt Road after Chief Secretary Carrie Lam called off talks on electoral reform.”

Day 13

2014-10-10

“The government on Thursday cancelled talks with student leaders set for Friday, where they were supposed to discuss election reform issues as a step towards easing the current political stalemate. Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, appointed the government's representative, said the talks would not be held because the government felt they would not lead to a constructive outcome.”

Day 14

2014-10-11

“Protest areas remained calm and peaceful on Saturday after Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement drew thousands of people on Friday night when organisers called for a "new wave" of civil disobedience. With the city's top leaders away from Hong Kong until Monday, student leaders issued an open letter to President Xi Jinping in which they stressed that the Occupy movement is not a "colour revolution".”

Day 15

2014-10-12

“Hong Kong's Occupy movement has 'spun out of control', Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said in an interview this morning. He also said there was "almost zero chance" for Beijing to give in and accept the demonstrators' demands. A stand-off in Mong Kok between plainclothes policemen and protesters led to several arrests in the early hours of Sunday.”

Day 16

2014-10-13

“Chaotic scenes unfolded in Admiralty on Monday when a mob of masked men, who appeared to be working in tandem with taxi drivers and truck drivers, removed barricades in Queensway and Cotton Tree Drive as dozens of anti-Occupy protesters gathered in the area. Scuffles broke out when some of the masked men cut the plastic cable ties connecting barriers on Queensway and confronted Occupy protesters.”

Day 17

2014-10-14

“Hundreds of police with power tools tore down protesters’ barricades on Queensway in Admiralty this morning, following a swiftly executed dawn operation to remove a number of blockades in Causeway Bay. In Tseung Kwan O, anti-Occupy protesters defied a court order and once again blocked the entrances to the Apple Daily newspaper headquarters, delaying the paper's delivery for a second day.”

Day 18

2014-10-15

“Police used pepper spray and arrested 45 people to forcibly clear Lung Wo Road in the early hours of Wednesday. The road in Admiralty had been reoccupied by protesters late on Tuesday. TVB aired footage of what they say is a group of police officers beating a protester, later idenitified as Civic Party member Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, after the operation.”

Day 19

2014-10-16

“After 19 days and thousands of posts from our reporters and photographers on the ground, our live blog on Occupy Central has now closed.”

The Debate

2014-10-21

“With the government insisting Beijing will not bow to protesters' demands, and students refusing to leave their demonstration zones until concessions have been made, the two sides remain deadlocked after an initial round of talks on Tuesday.”

Day 64

2014-12-01

“Overnight, students gathered near government headquarters in a tense stand-off with police in which pepper spray and batons were used. Now Admiralty is under siege after students gathered there following a call from their leaders, vowing to escalate action shortly after the deadlocked protest entered its second month.”

Clearance of Admiralty site

2014-12-11

“A police operation is set to clear the remaining Occupy sites, after 74 days of protest. The clearance operation has started and police have warned of imminent arrests.”

Clearance night

2014-12-11

“A police operation cleared the remaining Occupy sites, after 74 days of protest. The plan has gone smoothly, with much of Harcourt Road cleared of obstruction. Police also arrested several lawmakers, activists and Occupy leaders after they defied warnings to leave.”

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1861960/occupy-central-live-blog-one-year