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Hong Kong standoff: Pro-democracy crowds swell as police bolster barricades Hong Kong standoff: Pro-democracy crowds swell as police bolster barricades
(about 3 hours later)
BEIJING — Thousands of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong blocked main highways and chanted against Beijing-backed leaders Monday in a deepening standoff that has posed the most serious challenge to China’s policies in the former British colony. BEIJING — Swelling crowds of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong on Monday plunged Asia’s normally staid financial hub into a tense standoff with Beijing that strikes directly at China’s expanding political grip in the former British colony.
Protest crowds swelled after nightfall with workers joining student-led demonstrators camped along major roadways, plazas and other parts of the city to demand Chinese authorities lift plans to vet candidates in upcoming Hong Kong elections. The rapidly escalating demonstrations are aimed at forcing Beijing’s Communist leaders to abandon newly declared powers to weed out any candidates in upcoming Hong Kong elections. Yet many on the streets proclaimed they are fighting for something even bigger: preserving a vision of Hong Kong promised 14 years ago when it reverted to Chinese rule.
Security forces reinforced barricades and patrols, but did not immediately intervene following street clashes that brought clouds of tear gas to business districts with some of the world’s most expensive real estate. At the time, Chinese leaders promised a state within a state: allowing special hands-off provisions for Hong Kong such as allowing elections and a degree of self-rule in policymaking. But protesters now accuse China of reneging on the deal and trying to exert its control over every aspect of Hong Kong’s political affairs.
The protests — which have adopted the “occupy’’ cry that recalls the former sit-ins near Wall Street and elsewhere — pose an increasing dilemma for Beijing. The mounting protests present a conundrum for Beijing.
Chinese authorities risk escalating the street battles with harsher crackdowns. But officials also are desperate to show they will not tolerate unchecked demonstrations that could inspire unrest in other cities. Too hard a crackdown could drive more people to the pro-democracy cause and embarrass Chinese authorities who would never permit such a challenge on the mainland. Yet allowing the protesters some room risks encouraging others to question Communist control in other parts of the country over issues such as media freedoms, economic development and minority rights.
“Resign,’’ some protesters cried in jeers directed at Hong Kong’s leaders perceived as unwilling to stand up to Beijing, reports said. “Resign,’’ some protesters cried in jeers directed at Hong Kong’s leaders perceived as unwilling to stand up to Beijing.
Even the choice of the protest rallies appeared a direct poke at authorities who prize Hong Kong’s reputation as a place for easy commerce. Thousands of demonstrators turned multi-lane highways into open-air protest plazas and adopted the “occupy” theme of past sit-ins in Wall Street and elsewhere.
By sundown on Monday, police bolstered their ranks around blockades and cordons at some government buildings, but did not reopen attempts to confront or disperse the crowds.By sundown on Monday, police bolstered their ranks around blockades and cordons at some government buildings, but did not reopen attempts to confront or disperse the crowds.
Both sides seemed to be readying for a drawn-out duel.
Protesters — led by university students and younger teens barely old enough to remember when the Union Jack flew over Hong Kong — believe they are fighting for nothing less than the future of Hong Kong as they know it.
Chinese leaders, however, are unlikely to give an impression of weakness and reverse rules laid down last month that will allow its Communist leaders to weed out any candidates not loyal to the party.
In a sign of digging in, Chinese state-run media, including the People’s Daily, linked the protesters to “foreign anti-China forces’’ with alleged ties to the West. The state-backed Global Times newspaper further claimed U.S. media was trying to “stir up Hong Kong society” by drawing parallels with the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations that were crushed by Chinese authorities.
“People use peace and hope, while the government used tear gas and pepper spray,” said a protest leader, Benny Tai, at a rally in Hong Kong’s upscale Causeway Bay section, according to the South China Morning Post.“People use peace and hope, while the government used tear gas and pepper spray,” said a protest leader, Benny Tai, at a rally in Hong Kong’s upscale Causeway Bay section, according to the South China Morning Post.
On Sunday, riot police unleashed tear gas and pepper spray in street battles that injured nearly 30 people and at least 12 police officers, the Associated Press reported. Protesters tried to fend off the eye-stinging clouds with masks, goggles and even umbrellas — which also have been used by protesters to shield themselves from the sun in what they have dubbed the “umbrella revolution.’’ A failed attempt by police Sunday night to intimidate the protesters — using force, tear gas and pepper spray — appeared to backfire and brought more people to join the opposition ranks. Police said that clashes during the previous three days had left nearly 30 people and 12 police officers injured.
Chinese authorities, meanwhile, took quick steps to tighten social media, clearly mindful of how the Web has become an critical tool for protests around the world. In an apparent reevaluation of the hard-line approach, authorities on Monday announced the withdrawal of some riot police, even as they defended their use of tear gas a day earlier.
Beijing’s leaders blocked the photo-sharing network Instagram. Sites such at Twitter and Facebook were not immediately restricted, but activists fear a wider clampdown on social media if the Hong Kong dissent becomes an increasing embarrassment for Chinese authorities. The step back brought almost a festive air among the crowds, which remained on the streets even as dawn neared on Tuesday. People broke into song throughout the night, shared meals passed out by volunteers and lit up the sky by raising up their cellphone lights and waving en masse.
The uncertainties in Hong Kong have weighed on regional financial markets, but not causing widespread selloffs. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.9 percent Monday. Other other Asian markets, including Taiwan and Singapore, also were lower. Japan’s Nikkei and China’s Shanghai shrugged off the protest and both edged slightly higher. Some held up umbrellas — which have become a symbol of the protests as they were used to shield against tear gas and provide shade against the sweltering heat.
European and U.S. markets were dragged down in part by worries over the Hong Kong tensions. The coming days could be pivotal for both sides.
There were few signs it was easing. If the protests continue through Wednesday — the beginning of a two-day holiday in Hong Kong — many believe they could draw in even larger crowds.
Many schools and banks remained shuttered in Hong Kong, which was transferred to Chinese control in 1997 after more than 150 years under British rule. Authorities fear ongoing protests could force the temporary closure of more businesses — the lifeblood of the city. In a pre-emptive move, Hong Kong’s leaders announced they were cancelling fireworks planned to celebrate Wednesday’s China National Day. Many schools and colleges would remain closed Tuesday, officials announced.
In recent weeks, the democracy movement appeared to be flagging after a summer of simmering dissent. But this past week, a boycott by students galvanized the cause and prompted thousands to gather outside Hong Kong’s government headquarters. Beijing, meanwhile, has few immediate solutions.
Early Monday, Hong Kong’s top leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who is supported by Beijing, exhorted the protesters to go home. “We don’t want Hong Kong to be messy,” he said in a statement on television, the AP reported. “The government has to be careful not to alienate the public,” said Michael Davis, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong.
Some protesters pulled back, but others began spreading their occupation from the government headquarters to other parts of downtown, including the Causeway Bay commercial district and the gritty narrow-street neighborhood of Mong Kok. And yet, China’s leaders are notoriously reluctant to negotiate — much less reverse themselves — partly for fear it could inspire more mutinies against central rule.
Driving the confrontation is a ruling last month by Beijing that essentially allows its Communist leaders to weed out any candidates not loyal to the party. The move has angered many in Hong Kong who see it as a violation of Beijing’s promise to grant residents universal suffrage by 2017. Chinese authorities, for example, took quick steps after Sunday to tighten social media and some online reports of the protests. In an apparent bid to stop images circulating of the Hong Kong dissenters, Beijing’s leaders blocked the photo-sharing app Instagram. Internet images pose a greater challenge for Beijing’s censors because they cannot scan for key words such as with written posts, which are closely monitored.
On Sunday, China’s government condemned the latest protest through an unnamed spokesman who was quoted in the state-run Xinhua News Agency as calling protesters’ actions an “unlawful occupation” of government offices. As a last resort, some experts pointed out, the Communist Party keeps a garrison of People’s Liberation Army soldiers in Hong Kong.
Beijing’s August ruling, which would essentially keep the 2017 election firmly under party control, seemed to take the wind out of the sails of the organization driving much of the protest — known as Occupy Central with Love and Peace. “Deploying the PLA would certainly scare everyone off the street immediately,” said Willy Lam, an analyst at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “But it would also make the front pages of every paper in the world. For them, I think it remains something of a last resort.”
The coming days represent a test for both sides. On Monday, the British Foreign Office said Hong Kong’s identity is “underpinned by its fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to demonstrate.”
Wednesday marks China’s National Day and Beijing officials are unlikely to tolerate any dissent that could mar the celebrations. But the holiday gives free time for workers and business owners to join the protesters in Hong Kong and possibly elsewhere. The U.S. consulate in Hong Kong put out a much more guarded statement expressing general support for “freedom of expression.”
In the former Portuguese enclave of Macau, rallies are planned in sympathy with the Hong Kong demonstrations. But in an apparent reaction to Chinese accusations of a foreign hand in the protests, the U.S. consulate statement stressed that Washington does “not take sides in the discussion of Hong Kong’s political development, nor do we support any particular individuals or groups involved in it.”
Murphy reported from Washington. Xu Jing in Beijing contributed to this report. In response, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, warned against foreign interference, saying in a statement that “Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong.”
Brian Murphy in Washington and Liu Liu in Beijing contributed to this report.