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Hong Kong clashes kick-start plans by pro-democracy activists to blockade city Hong Kong clashes kick-start plans by pro-democracy activists to blockade city
(about 1 hour later)
Violent clashes between Hong Kong riot police and students galvanised tens of thousands of supporters for the city’s pro-democracy movement and kick-started a plan to lock down the heart of the Asian financial centre on Sunday. Hong Kong activists have kicked off a mass civil disobedience campaign over voting rights early, after tens of thousands of students and sympathisers pre-empted them with protests at government buildings on Saturday.
Leaders and supporters of Occupy Central with Love and Peace rallied to support students who were doused with pepper spray early on Saturday after they broke through police barriers and stormed the city’s government headquarters. Clashes with police and the arrest of several student leaders had brought supporters onto the streets after around 150 demonstrators broke through police lines and stormed the city headquarters late on Friday night, prompting 74 arrests. Three well-known activists were still being held on Sunday morning.
“Whoever loves Hong Kong should come and join us. This is for Hong Kong’s future,” said publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai, an outspoken critic of China’s communist government who has backed pro-democracy activists through publications that include one of the city’s biggest newspapers as well as donations. Police used pepper spray as they struggled to clear demonstrators from the scene overnight. But late on Saturday, large crowds gathered around the complex to support the student protesters, who had been boycotting classes all week.
Occupy demanded that Beijing withdraw its framework for political reform in the former British colony and resume talks. “Occupy Central starts now,” the movement’s leader Benny Tai announced in the early hours of Sunday morning – not long after saying there would be no change in plans for the non-violent protest movement.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a formula known as “one country, two systems” that guaranteed a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China. Universal suffrage was set as an eventual goal. “Actually we are being encouraged by the students to join. We are touched by the works of students. I will even admit that we are late [in announcing]; we should be ashamed of ourselves,” he added.
But Beijing last month rejected demands for people to freely choose the city’s next leader, prompting threats from activists to shut down Central, Hong Kong’s financial district. China wants to limit elections to a handful of candidates loyal to Beijing. The former British colony is run separately from the mainland under the “one country, two systems” framework. Beijing promised universal suffrage for the election of its chief executive from 2017.
“It’s high time that we really showed that we want to be free and not to be slaves ... we must unite together,” Cardinal Joseph Zen, 82, formerly Catholic bishop of Hong Kong, said. But reformers are angered by the restrictions imposed on the process, which would see tight control of candidates by a nomination committee stacked with pro-Beijing loyalists. It would effectively rule out the prospect of any democrat standing.
This demonstration, which has drawn thousands of protesters armed with goggles, masks and raincoats in preparation for a violent confrontation with police, is one of the most tenacious acts of civil disobedience seen in post-colonial Hong Kong. They had hoped that the threat of action might persuade Beijing to compromise.
Roads in a square block around the city’s government headquarters, located in the Admiralty district adjacent to Central, were filled with people and blocked with metal barricades erected by protesters to defend against a possible police crackdown. Instead, the details of the decision from the standing committee of the National People’s Congress – China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament – underlined their fears that Hong Kong’s identity and autonomy is being gradually eroded.
Some of Hong Kong’s most powerful tycoons have spoken out against the Occupy movement, warning it could threaten the city’s business and economic stability. Occupy Central With Peace and Love had originally planned to take over the financial district from Wednesday, a national holiday.
The latest protests escalated after demonstrators broke through a cordon late on Friday and scaled perimeter fences to invade the city’s main government compound in the culmination of a week-long rally to demand free elections. In a statement, Occupy Central said: “The two nights of occupation of Civic Square in Admiralty [next to Central] have completely embodied the awakening of Hong Kong people’s desire to decide their own lives. The courage of the students and members of the public in their spontaneous decision stay has touched many Hong Kong people. Yet, the government has remained unmoved … We have decided to arise and act.
Student leaders said about 80,000 people participated in the rally. No independent estimate was available. “We reiterate we will stand firm in our belief in peace and non-violence. We urge Hong Kong people to respond to the call of history, to stand up and have the courage to be a real Hong Kong citizen.”
The clashes were the most heated in a series of anti-Beijing protests that underscore the central government’s challenge to stamp its will on Hong Kong. Its demands are to withdraw Beijing’s decision on the framework for Hong Kong’s political reform, and a resumption of political reform consultations.
Some observers have likened the protests to those that culminated in the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy students in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. Media outlets have reported that many of those outside the government headquarters left the scene after Occupy Central’s statement, although more than 1,000 remained there overnight as hundreds of police officers watched.
Police arrested more than 60 people, including Joshua Wong, the 17-year-old leader of student group Scholarism, who was dragged away after he called on the protesters to charge the government premises. He was still being detained early on Sunday, along with fellow student leaders Alex Chow and Lester Shum. They rearranged crowd-control barriers brought by police to defend their position, and slept swathed in plastic wrap and cheap raincoats, wearing goggles and masks, to protect against pepper spray.
His parents said in a statement the decision to detain him was an act of “political persecution”. “A lot of students left as soon as Occupy made the announcement they were starting their occupation,” Vito Leung, a recent graduate, said.
Wong has already won one major victory against Beijing. In 2012, he forced the Hong Kong government to shelve plans to roll out a pro-China national education scheme in the city’s schools when the then 15-year-old rallied 120,000 protesters. “I think they were really forcing it. This was always a separate student movement with similar goals but different directions. I don’t think it should be brought together like this,” added Leung, vowing to stay until police released Joshua Wong, the prominent 17-year-old leader of the activist group Scholarism.
Students issued rallying cries during the protests, calling for their leaders’ release. But divisions between the students and Occupy quickly emerged as arguments broke out and some students accused the civil disobedience movement of hijacking their protest. He was among the first to be arrested as protestors charged the government complex on Friday night, and was still being detained early on Sunday, along with fellow student leaders Alex Chow and Lester Shum. His parents said in a statement that his detention was an act of “political persecution”.
“I came here tonight to support the students, but now I feel like I’ve been used ... They made that decision without asking us,” said Sharon Choi, 20. Civic party leader Alan Leong told the South China Morning Post that 18 pan-democrat lawmakers, including himself, would take part in the sit-in. He added: “[Some protesters] may not want to support Occupy and have left, but all Hong Kongers who want their attitude known to the Communist party [should come] because this is a defining moment of Hong Kong.”
Occupy organisers had previously indicated they planned to blockade the financial district on 1 October, China’s national day holiday. The rally will now take part in the Admiralty district to build on the momentum of week-long student rallies and protests in the area. Publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai, an outspoken critic of Beijing and backer of democracy activists, said: “Whoever loves Hong Kong should come and join us. This is for Hong Kong’s future.”
“Rather than encouraging the students to join, we are encouraged by the students to join,” said Benny Tai, one of the three main organisers of the pro-democracy movement. Police have urged the protesters to leave peacefully and avoid obstructing officers, saying otherwise they would “soon take actions to restore public order”.
“We are touched and moved by the work of the students.” At least 34 people have been injured since the protest began, including four police officers and 11 government staff and guards, authorities said. One officer suffered a gash after being poked by an umbrella used to deflect pepper spray.