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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 4 hours later)
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. HONG KONG —  A surging protest by students in Hong Kong gained power on Saturday, when a swelling crowd of supporters forced the police to retreat for a second straight night, and prompted the city’s most prominent advocates for democracy to say they would ally themselves with the young demonstrators and give them more say in a campaign of defiance against the Chinese government and its local allies.
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. Several democratic politicians in Hong Kong said the unexpected strength of the young protesters, who have besieged the city’s government headquarters since Friday night, had persuaded an older generation to cede more control to student activists, who seem 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. “What happened since yesterday was beyond our expectation,” Albert Ho, 62, a member of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong’s Legislature, said in an interview late 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.” “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 in their 20s or younger, 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 influence of the students was underlined when Hong Kong’s most established pro-democracy campaign, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, announced an abrupt change in its plans for civil disobedience protests beginning Wednesday in the city’s main financial district, known as Central. Those demonstrations would focus on election proposals issued last month by the Chinese government that the campaign says do not offer authentic democratic options for choosing the city’s chief executive. In the early hours of Sunday, Benny Tai, a co-founder of Occupy Central, announced that the students’ “occupation” in front of the city government offices would for now be the base for his group’s protests as well.
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. “Students have activated Hong Kong’s largest-scale civil disobedience campaign ever,” Mr. Tai said from a small stage, in a speech punctuated by roaring cheers and shouted slogans. He said the group was still examining how it might stage protests in Central, as it first planned. “We’ll begin,” he said, “by occupying the central government offices.”
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 Hong Kong government also appeared caught off guard. The chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, has been silent about the protests, and, despite months of training to quell Occupy Central, the police failed to disperse the students who had turned the government area beside Victoria Harbor into a passionate but orderly stage. “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.
“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.” He said he was among 200 or so students who on Friday night had 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. The protests started after a weeklong boycott of classes by university students to protest China’s election plan.
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. “I want the government to be representative, elected by us from our hearts, not by the Chinese government,” Mr. Mak said, rapidly taking phone calls about organizing the swelling crowd. Under current electoral laws, the chief executive is selected by a committee dominated by Beijing loyalists.
“You have to respond to the changing situation of the society,” he said. On Saturday, the crowd grew into the thousands, and veered from angry jeering to an almost celebratory mood when the number of police officers thinned. There were no estimates of crowd totals from official agencies.
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. “The student movement was a minority movement, but now it’s leading,” said Lee Cheuk-yan, 57, the chairman of the pro-democracy Labor Party, who attended the protest. “We will need to discuss strategy with them, but you can see their enthusiasm and energy.”
“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. Many in the crowd — fearing that the police would use pepper spray, as they had on Friday night and Saturday morning — unfurled umbrellas, donned plastic raincoats and gauze masks, and put plastic wrap over their eyes. Some wore yellow ribbons symbolizing hope for change. Seventy-four people have been arrested since the confrontation started on Friday, the police said.
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. Some older protesters said the sight of the police squirting pepper spray at the students, which was shown on television news reports, galvanized support for the demonstration. In a society that reveres education, the students have drawn an outpouring of support from residents, who sent bottled water, tissues and snacks, which accumulated into mountains of supplies.
“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. Some sensed echoes from Beijing 25 years ago, when the students who occupied Tiananmen Square received public support and donations before the protests were brutally suppressed.
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. “They are ready to pick up the democracy baton from the student movement in China in 1989,” said Sunny Lau, 57, who said he had been pepper-sprayed by the police at this weekend’s protests.
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. Since Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, the former British colony has kept its independent courts and legal protections for free speech and assembly, as well as a robust civil society. But many democratic groups and politicians say those freedoms have eroded under mainland China’s growing political and economic influence.
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. The current chief executive, Mr. Leung, has backed Beijing’s plan for electoral changes, which for the first time would let the public vote for the city’s 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 popular vote meaningless.
“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.” Anger with the Chinese government runs especially deep among Hong Kong residents in their 30s and younger, according to polls. Younger residents feel squeezed by rising housing prices and living expenses and lack of upward mobility, and they often accuse the government of pandering to tycoons.
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. A poll this month by researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong found that 54 percent of Hong Kong’s Cantonese-speaking residents said the city’s Legislative Council should veto electoral proposals that excluded candidates whose political stances differed from the Chinese government’s, and the percentage rose to 76 among people ages 15 to 24.
“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.” “I think unfairness is spreading in Hong Kong, and because of the political system,” said Edith Fung, 21, a student of land surveying. “I don’t want Hong Kong to change to be like China, with corruption, unfairness, no press freedom, no religious freedom.”
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. Ms. Fung said she had been indifferent to politics until this year, and Eva Mo, a nursing student who helped provide first aid to protesters, said she was participating in her first demonstration against the government. “They treated the students like children,” she said. “We only asked for dialogue. But there was none.”
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.