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Police Arrest Dozens of Pro-Democracy Protesters in Hong Kong Police Arrest Dozens of Pro-Democracy Protesters in Hong Kong
(about 2 hours later)
HONG KONG — A tense standoff in Hong Kong extended into a second night on Saturday, as thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators massed in front of the city government headquarters, defying the police, who had earlier arrested dozens of students. Many said the confrontation was an early start to a bigger protest that a leading democracy movement has planned for months. HONG KONG — A surging youth protest movement in Hong Kong took the political initiative on Saturday, forcing the police to retreat for a second night and prompting the city’s most prominent democratic group to shift plans and join forces with the student activists in a campaign of defiance against the Chinese government’s planned election rules.
While the rest of the city went about its weekend as usual, the protesters — mostly teenagers or people in their twenties — turned an area next to the government buildings beside Victoria Harbor into a passionate but orderly stage to demand a say in electing Hong Kong’s leader, the chief executive. The Chinese government last month laid down much narrower plans for electoral change, which would keep its power as a gatekeeper deciding who can run the city, a former British colony. Several older politicians who support democracy in Hong Kong said the unexpected strength of the young protesters, who have besieged the city government headquarters since Friday night, suggested an emerging shift, as their generation ceded greater say to student activists who will be even less open to compromise with authoritarian Beijing.
“What happened since yesterday was beyond our expectation,” Albert Ho, 62, a prominent lawyer and Democratic Party member of Hong Kong’s legislature, said in an interview late on Saturday.
“Now the younger people have taken control and used their advantage of surprise,” Mr. Ho said in the middle of an exuberant rally attended by thousands of people, mostly teenagers and people in their 20s, in front of the city government offices. “This is something that will deeply concern the government.”
Adding to the sense of a shift in political influence to the young activists, Hong Kong’s most prominent democracy campaign, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, announced an abrupt change in its plans.
The campaign had said it would hold civil disobedience protests in the main financial district, known as Central, because election proposals issued by the Chinese government last month failed to offer authentic democratic choice for electing the city’s leader, or chief executive. But in the early hours of Sunday, Benny Tai, a co-founder of Occupy Central, announced that the student initiative would now be the spearhead for the group’s protests.
The student-led occupation at the city government headquarters “completely embodied the awakening of Hong Kong people’s desire to decide their own lives,” Occupy Central said in an emailed announcement.
“The courage of the students and members of the public in their spontaneous decision stay has touched many Hong Kong people,” it said. “As the wheel of time has reached this point, we have decided to arise and act.”
In an interview, Mr. Tai said his group was “very moved by the participation of the citizens which have been organized and initiated by the students,” and suggested that it might switch the site of its occupation to the student one.
“You have to respond to the changing situation of the society,” he said.
While the rest of the city went about its weekend as usual, the protesters turned an area next to the government buildings beside Victoria Harbor into a passionate but orderly stage to demand a say in electing the chief executive. The Chinese government last month laid down much narrower plans for electoral change, which would keep its power as a gatekeeper deciding who can run the city, a former British colony.
“We think that this place is ours, not the government’s,” said Will Mak Wing-kai, a student from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.“We think that this place is ours, not the government’s,” said Will Mak Wing-kai, a student from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
He said he was among 200 or so students who on Friday night stormed into a forecourt near the entrance to the government headquarters, known to the demonstrators as Civic Square, which had recently been blocked off from the public. Mr. Mak left the forecourt voluntarily early on Saturday, but in the afternoon the police hauled off about 100 remaining protesters there. He said he was among 200 or so students who on Friday night stormed into a forecourt near the entrance to the government headquarters, known to the demonstrators as Civic Square, which had recently been blocked off from the public.
“We want to see the Hong Kong people come out to protect their freedom and democracy,” Mr. Mak said, rapidly taking phone calls about organizing the swelling crowd. “I want the government to be representative, elected by us from our hearts, not by the Chinese government.” “We want to see the Hong Kong people come out to protect their freedom and democracy,” Mr. Mak said, rapidly taking phone calls about organizing the swelling crowd. “I want the government to be representative, elected by us from our hearts, not by the Chinese government.” Under current electoral laws, the chief executive is selected by a committee dominated by Beijing loyalists.
Under current electoral laws, the chief executive is selected by a committee dominated by Beijing loyalists. On Saturday, the crowd veered from anger and jeering to an almost celebratory mood when the number of officers thinned. Tensions rose again as darkness fell and the police regrouped across the square from metal barriers, inadvertently left there by the government and appropriated by the demonstrators. On Saturday, the crowd veered from anger and jeering to an almost celebratory mood when number of officers thinned. Tensions rose again as darkness fell and the police regrouped across the square from metal barriers. But then the police retreated again, and crowds continued pouring into the protest area well into the early hours of Sunday.
Many in the crowd unfurled umbrellas, donned plastic raincoats and flimsy gauze masks, and put sheets of plastic wrap over their eyes, fearing that the police would use pepper spray, as they had on Friday night and Saturday morning. Some also wore yellow ribbons given out by the protest organizers as a symbol of hope for change. Seventy-four people have been arrested since the confrontation started on Friday, the police said.Many in the crowd unfurled umbrellas, donned plastic raincoats and flimsy gauze masks, and put sheets of plastic wrap over their eyes, fearing that the police would use pepper spray, as they had on Friday night and Saturday morning. Some also wore yellow ribbons given out by the protest organizers as a symbol of hope for change. Seventy-four people have been arrested since the confrontation started on Friday, the police said.
For both sides, the standoff appeared to be a dress rehearsal, or even an early start, for bigger protests that the leading pro-democracy group, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, has said could start as soon as Wednesday, China’s National Day, which is also a public holiday in Hong Kong. That group takes its name from Hong Kong’s financial district, known as Central, and its organizers have said they will hold a sit-in there to protest Beijing’s proposals for election change, which they say betray promises to allow all voters to choose the chief executive. Many protesters said the sight of the police squirting eye-searing pepper spray at the students on Friday night, shown on television news reports, galvanized support for protesters.
“This will definitely lead into Occupy,” said Chris Mok, a research assistant who attended the demonstration outside the government headquarters. He and others said the sight of the police squirting eye-searing pepper spray at the students on Friday night, shown on television news reports, would galvanize support for the planned sit-in. “Hong Kong people have a special feeling for our students,” said Chris Mok, a research assistant who attended the demonstration, “I decided to come down here this morning after I saw them pepper-spraying the students.”
“Hong Kong people have a special feeling for our students,” he said. “I decided to come down here this morning after I saw them pepper-spraying the students.”
In a society that reveres education, the students have drawn an outpouring of support from classmates and other residents, who sent bottled water, tissues and snacks, which by Saturday had accumulated into mountains of supplies. Some residents saw echoes of Beijing in 1989, when there was a surge of public support for students who occupied Tiananmen Square, before the protests were brutally suppressed.In a society that reveres education, the students have drawn an outpouring of support from classmates and other residents, who sent bottled water, tissues and snacks, which by Saturday had accumulated into mountains of supplies. Some residents saw echoes of Beijing in 1989, when there was a surge of public support for students who occupied Tiananmen Square, before the protests were brutally suppressed.
“They are ready to pick up the democracy baton from the student movement in China in 1989,” said Sunny Lau, 57, who said he was pepper-sprayed by the police when he arrived to support the students. “Part of our success would be to put pressure on the Communist Party by getting the world’s attention.”“They are ready to pick up the democracy baton from the student movement in China in 1989,” said Sunny Lau, 57, who said he was pepper-sprayed by the police when he arrived to support the students. “Part of our success would be to put pressure on the Communist Party by getting the world’s attention.”
Since Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, the former British colony has kept its own independent courts and legal protections for free speech and assembly, as well as a robust civil society. But many democratic groups and politicians say the city’s freedoms are eroding under mainland China’s growing political and economic influence. Since Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, it has kept its own independent courts and legal protections for free speech and assembly, as well as a robust civil society. But many democratic groups and politicians say the city’s freedoms are eroding under mainland China’s growing political and economic influence.
The current chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, has backed Beijing’s plan for electoral changes, which for the first time would let the public vote for the top leader, starting in 2017. But critics say the plan includes procedural hurdles that would screen out candidates who do not have Beijing’s implicit blessing, making the vote meaningless. Beijing’s plan for electoral changes would for the first time let the public vote for the top leader, starting in 2017. But critics say the plan includes procedural hurdles would screen out candidates who do not have Beijing’s implicit blessing, making the vote meaningless.
“I don’t want Hong Kong to change to be like China, with corruption, unfairness, no press freedom, no religious freedom,” said Edith Fung, 21, a land surveying student. She said she had been indifferent to politics until earlier this year. “I don’t want Hong Kong to change to be like China, with corruption, unfairness, no press freedom, no religious freedom,” said Edith Fung, 21, a land surveying student.
The latest protests erupted on Friday night, at the end of a weeklong boycott of classes by university students to protest China’s election plan. The students, many of whom had gathered near the government headquarters, were joined on Friday by hundreds of high school students, and that night the peaceful rally gave way to a night of torrid protest.
By Saturday afternoon, dozens of additional police officers with shields and helmets had moved into the forecourt near the government headquarters, and the remaining students were told they had five minutes to leave before force would be used. Amid jeers from demonstrators, the police dragged away the protesters, who had often joined arms, one by one.
The Hong Kong government’s secretary for security, Lai Tung-kwok, warned people to stay away from the area. But they continued streaming in on Saturday night, although most avenues into the protest area were blocked by the police. For some, the day was an initiation into opposition politics that could leave a lasting mark.
“This is the first time for me at something like this,” said Eva Mo, a student of nursing who had joined the medical squads offering first aid to protesters. “They treated the students like children,” she said of the government. “We only asked for dialogue. But there was none.”