Violent scuffles broke out in one of Hong Kong’s most famous and congested shopping districts yesterday, as hundreds of supporters of Chinese rule stormed tents and ripped down banners belonging to pro-democracy protesters, forcing many to retreat.
As news of the confrontation spread, more protesters headed for the gritty, bustling district of Mong Kok, considered one of the most crowded places on Earth, to reinforce.
Tens of thousands have taken to Hong Kong’s streets in the past week to demand full democracy in the former British colony, including a free voting system when they come to choose a new leader in 2017.
You don’t hold Hong Kong citizens hostage because it’s not going to work
Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying agreed to open talks with pro-democracy protesters but defied demands that he resign. He and his Chinese government backers made clear they would not back down in the face of the city’s worst unrest in decades.
The Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the main groups behind the protest movement, accused the government and police of conspiring to provoke attacks on protesters in Mong Kok, and threatened to pull out of planned talks.
Numbers dwindled at some other protest sites in and around the Central financial district as rain fell yesterday and as Hong Kong people returned to work after a two-day holiday. However, crowds built up again from hundreds to thousands late at night in the Admiralty district, where government offices are concentrated.
In Mong Kok, where notorious Triad criminal gangs operate bars, nightclubs and massage parlours in high-rise apartment blocks packed together, about 1,000 Beijing supporters clashed with around 100 protesters, spitting and throwing water bottles in a side-show to the main protests.
Police formed a human chain to separate the two groups amid the wail of sirens. Hong Kong’s RTHK radio station reported that 131 people had been taken to hospital yesterday with injuries of varying severity sustained during protests across the city.
Some demonstrators held umbrellas for police in the rain, while others shouted at police for failing to clear the demonstrators.
“We are all fed up and our lives are affected,” said teacher Victor Ma, 42. “You don’t hold Hong Kong citizens hostage because it’s not going to work. That’s why the crowd is very angry here.”
The police defended their handling of the clashes, during which protesters also accused them of doing too little to protect them.
“During the process, we still maintained our dignity and restraint and tried our best to keep the situation under control,” a policeman spokesman told a news conference.
Paul Renouf, a senior police officer in Mong Kok, said there were no immediate plans to force people to leave the area, and added: “It’s a little bit calmer now, but it is a tinder box situation.”
Mong Kok is popular with visitors from the mainland but not as well known to Western tourists as the luxury shopping area of Causeway Bay, on the island of Hong Kong, where pedestrians were trying to remove barricades put up by Occupy protesters.
A female student protester wept on the street as she tried to protect the barricades.
“Is this really Hong Kong?” she asked. “Why has Hong Kong become like this?”