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Hundreds Try to Tear Down Sit-In Barricades in Central Hong Kong Hong Kong Protesters Reinforce Barriers After Rivals Try to Demolish Them
(about 14 hours later)
HONG KONG — Hundreds of people opposed to the pro-democracy demonstrations here attacked the protesters’ main camp on Monday, trying to tear down street barricades that have choked traffic in the city. The police struggled to keep the two sides apart, but warned that they, too, were determined to clear the roadblocks over the protesters’ objections. HONG KONG — Monday began with attempts to tear down the barriers around the Hong Kong protesters’ main camp. It ended with supporters of the protest movement swarming onto downtown streets and helping to erect stronger barriers.
The confrontation in the Admiralty district, near where the protests first spilled onto Hong Kong’s streets over two weeks ago, magnified the volatile political divisions in the city, pitting the mostly young demonstrators against residents who say they are fed up with disruptions brought by the protests or who are loyal to Beijing, which opposes the demands for full democratic elections for Hong Kong’s leader. Bankers, builders, engineers and smartly dressed office workers were among the surge of people who gathered deep into the night to keep the police from squeezing the student-led protests out of the three major areas of the city they have clogged for two weeks.
For the Chinese government, wary of democratic demands from Hong Kong, a former British colony, the tensions have become entangled in ideological rivalry with the West. The main state-run news agency, Xinhua, has amplified accusations that the protests demanding sweeping electoral change were the handiwork of the United States government. “This is to protect our democracy, to protect our future,” said Patrick Chan, an accountant, taking a brief break from helping to raise an elaborate fortress of bamboo and plastic binding on the edge of Central, the city’s main financial district.
On Monday, opponents of the pro-democracy sit-in converged on barricades at two ends of Queensway, a traffic artery through Admiralty that the protesters had sealed off, and began pulling apart barriers, mostly portable steel railings tied together, which the demonstrators had assembled to put pressure on the government and to protect their camp. Earlier, opponents of the “Occupy” protests had gathered in a nearby park, and some opponents had chanted in Cantonese, “Open the road, open the road,” while groups of men dismantled some of the makeshift roadblocks. “The government doesn’t listen to the Hong Kong people, so we must do this,” he said, his voice choked with emotion.
The police arrested three people on assault charges over their roles in the afternoon confrontation on Queensway. The chief police spokesman, Hui Chun-tak, did not say which side those arrested were on. Actions by the police and threats from opponents of the protests have repeatedly backfired, making the pro-democracy demonstrators more determined to hold fast. Two weeks ago, when the police used tear gas and pepper spray to try to break up the demonstrations, even more people went out into the streets in solidarity. This time, police attempts to pare back the protesters’ barricades have prompted supporters to build more, using bamboo poles, garbage cans, concrete, bus stop signs and even large potted plants and carpet scavenged from office renovations.
“They are not looking after the interests of the Hong Kong people,” said Yang Xiuyun, a 60-year-old woman from the northern side of Hong Kong who said she had come to try to help open the roads. When two men nearby loudly accused the United States government of instigating the protests, Ms. Yang said she agreed. “Before, the street barriers were just symbolic, but the ones going up now are something else,” said Jo Wu, an office worker who went out into Queensway, a major shopping thoroughfare, to express support for the protesters, while also walking her pet pug, Mimi. “People are showing their distrust of the government.”
Hours before the confrontation between the rival crowds, police officers took the protest camp by surprise and began removing some barricades on major avenues in Admiralty and Central, the city’s main business district, in a predawn operation that opened at least one important artery but left the protest camp untouched. Like Ms. Wu, many people who turned out on Monday evening to help or to cheer on the barricade builders were middle class, expressing anger with the government over disappointed hopes for greater home rule.
Mr. Hui urged demonstrators on both sides to stay calm. At a news conference, he said the police were prepared to remove more of the protest barriers themselves, a move that could rekindle tensions with the pro-democracy camps, which have also occupied two other districts in the city: Mong Kok and Causeway Bay. “We came to show our support for something we really treasure: democracy,” said Steven Tsui, a financial analyst in his 20s who works in the financial district and was still dressed in a dark business suit. “We need to show that this is not only students who are angry.”
The police “will not eliminate the possibility of using the minimum of force necessary,” with arrests possibly resulting as well, Mr. Hui said. The “police will restore the public order — soon,” he said with a pause. Thousands of people sat on the pavement of Harcourt Road on Monday night, listening to speeches and music, while thousands more milled about the hundreds of tents that have sprung up on the avenue. One was Nelson Lee, 26, who works in the insurance and fund management industry.
Nathan Law, a member of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of university student groups that have led the protests, said in an interview that the democracy demonstrators would not retreat from their encampments, despite the conflict. “They came for the same reason: They disagree with people destroying the barriers by improper means,” Mr. Lee said, adding that he had helped erect some barriers last week. “Students just want democracy, and the government uses so many means to destroy the protests.”
“We need more people to watch our barriers,” he said. “We need reinforcement here so at least we can form human chains to protect our barriers from these anti-Occupy protesters.” The police effort to remove some barricades in the Admiralty and Central areas of the city began before dawn on Monday, taking sleeping protesters by surprise. The police cleared at least one important downtown artery but left the protest camp untouched.
The confrontation with the protest opponents sent a shiver of fear through the main protest camp on nearby Harcourt Road. A speaker on stage in the camp urged parents to keep their children safe. Some of the opponents appeared to be groups of elderly residents acting at the orders of younger organizers, and some of the men who attacked the barricades appeared to be part of well-organized gangs, said pro-democracy demonstrators. Later in the day, hundreds of people who oppose the pro-democracy demonstrations tore down more of the barricades around Admiralty that have choked traffic in the city, including two made largely of metal scaffolding at either end of Queensway. The crowds appeared to include truck and taxi drivers and members of “triads,” the local organized crime gangs, according to supporters of the protesters, but a good number were ordinary residents.
“Two malicious forces on Queensway are stirring trouble, dismantling our barriers, destroying our tents, even medical stations,” said the speaker. “Please take care of the minors.” Lucy Tse, 52, said she had been stuck in her home in east Hong Kong Island since the protests broke out two weeks ago, and she lamented that she had to take the train instead of getting around in her Mercedes-Benz. “This is a public space for all Hong Kong people, not just for the students, not just for the government,” she said. “These Hong Kong students are spoiled.”
Outside Pacific Place, a high-end mall on Queensway, the opponents of the protesters’ blockade used a crane mounted on a large truck to pull apart a barrier until the police arrived and tried to ease tensions. A group of people wearing blue ribbons — the insignia of those opposed to the pro-democracy sit-ins — also destroyed a supply station for the protesters. Those seeking to demolish the barricades even used a crane to pull apart a barrier near the Pacific Place shopping mall, until the police arrived and tried to ease tensions.
The police formed a cordon to keep apart the pro-democracy demonstrators and their opponents, who began dispersing. By midafternoon, the confrontations on the street appeared to ease and hundreds of police officers guarded the remaining barriers and kept an eye on the crowd, which included many workers from nearby offices. Hui Chun-tak, the chief police spokesman, urged people on both sides to stay calm, but he signaled that the barricades would not be allowed to remain indefinitely, and that the police were prepared to take some down themselves.
But the rival crowds continued to mill around as the working day drew to a close. Several hundred demonstrators and bystanders gathered outside Pacific Place, and pro-democracy demonstrators chanted “get off work” to their opponents, whom they accused of being paid to protest. The crowd later dispersed. Mr. Hui said he “will not eliminate the possibility of using the minimum of force necessary,” with the possibility of arrests. “Police will restore the public order — soon,” he said, pausing before the word “soon.”
China has promised that, by 2017, Hong Kong voters will have the opportunity to vote for the city’s leader, or chief executive. But the government has rejected a call for open nominations, instead demanding that candidates be approved by at least half the members of a committee dominated by people loyal to Beijing. Supporters of the pro-democracy protests regained the upper hand in the evening. At Mong Kok, on the other side of Victoria Harbor, volunteers used crates and bamboo poles to reinforce their barriers.
Instead, the Chinese Communist Party has said the unrest in Hong Kong has been fomented by foes of party rule, acting in concert with Western forces, especially the United States government, a claim that American government officials have adamantly rejected. On Monday, a video commentary issued by Xinhua continued those accusations, likening the unrest to “color revolutions” across former Soviet bloc countries that Chinese officials say were hatched by Washington. Hong Kong police equipped with heavy steel shears began cutting plastic ties and dismantling barricades on Tuesday morning in one of the city’s busiest shopping areas, Causeway Bay, but there was little sign of resistance or arrests. “This is not clearing the site; please leave for your own safety,” officers said through loudspeakers.
The United States “has engaged in substantial interventionist activities in Hong Kong,” said the commentary. “The goal is to transfer their experience with so-called color revolutions to Hong Kong.” A police spokesman said some barricades needed to be removed because they had been enlarged overnight and made heavier with the use of cement. “If there are ill or injured people, an ambulance might not be able to get through,” he said.
The current Hong Kong chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, said on Sunday that the protesters have “almost nil” chance of forcing Beijing to abandon its election rules, and he accused the student-led movement of being “out of control.” On Monday, Mr. Leung told reporters that he wanted life in Hong Kong to return to normal as soon as possible, but set no time for ending the sit-ins and road blockades. Many Hong Kong residents see the Chinese government’s rejection of democracy for their city as an affront to their values, and feel that the special status they have had since Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 is under threat.
Supporters of the pro-democracy occupation said that the men attempting to break the traffic blockade appeared to include members of “triads,” the local organized crime gangs, as well as truck and taxi drivers. But a good number of those supporting the attempted road clearance were ordinary residents. The Chinese government has promised to let Hong Kong voters choose the city’s leader, called the chief executive, starting in 2017. But rather than allow open nominations, the government has insisted that candidates be screened by a committee dominated by people loyal to Beijing.
The confrontation was not the first time that supporters and opponents of the street protests have clashed. On Oct. 3, groups of men attacked a protest camp in Mong Kok, and the police arrested 19 men, including eight suspected of belonging to triads. Surveys have indicated that managers, professionals and educators are among the Hong Kong residents who are most dissatisfied with their municipal government. And while only a minority has actively supported the protests, that support remains robust.
Lucy Tse, 52, said that she had been trapped in her home in east Hong Kong Island since the street protests broke out two weeks ago, and she lamented that she had to take the train instead of getting around in her Mercedes-Benz E-Class. “It really shows that we have had enough,” said Kris Fong, a 27-year-old office manager, who was helping to reinforce one bamboo barrier by wrapping the joints in yards of plastic kitchen wrap. “In these recent years, the middle class in Hong Kong has been suffering, but they feel the government doesn’t listen, doesn’t help them get through their hardship.”
“This is a public space for all Hong Kong people, not just for the students, not just for the government,” she said. “These Hong Kong students are spoiled. The city’s current chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, said Sunday that the protesters have “almost nil” chance of forcing Beijing to abandon its election rules. On Monday, Mr. Leung told reporters that he wanted life in Hong Kong to return to normal as soon as possible, but he set no time for ending the sit-ins and road blockades.
Into the evening, protesters around Admiralty began strengthening and expanding road barriers, using bus stop signs, bamboo, wooden pallets, portable metal railing and large, hollow plastic road barriers that they filled with water. On Queensway, some middle-class protesters said they did not think Mr. Leung would use force against the protests while the world’s news media were watching so intently. But others were worried about where the deepening standoff would end.
“I think it is beyond my imagination,” said Ronald, a banker in his 20s who would not give his last name “I have no idea how the government can respond to this.”