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Hong Kong Protesters Resist Attempt to Clear Mong Kok Site | Hong Kong Protesters Resist Attempt to Clear Mong Kok Site |
(about 3 hours later) | |
HONG KONG — Thousands of demonstrators surged into a Hong Kong neighborhood on Tuesday, defying a police attempt to shrink one of the pro-democracy protest camps that have filled some streets in the city for nearly two months. A police clearance operation in the daytime gave way to a night of angry crowds facing off against officers, who used batons and pepper spray to push back. | |
Hundreds of police officers had assembled on Tuesday to enforce a court injunction demanding that protesters stop blocking Argyle Street in Mong Kok, a crowded commercial neighborhood where demonstrators have camped since late September. Two sites in other areas of Hong Kong are also occupied by protesters, who are demanding fully democratic elections for the city’s leader. | |
The police did not try to clear Nathan Road, where most of the protesters in Mong Kok have been camping, and initially the effort appeared to go smoothly. | |
But as has happened repeatedly since the street demonstrations erupted, the police had difficulty maintaining control after initially dispersing the crowds. | |
In the afternoon, the police encountered growing resistance from protesters, and dragged off some of the people who had not left the area set for clearance. Protesters and onlookers massed outside a mall near the cleared street, and the police formed lines to try to get the growing crowd to move on, producing tense, chaotic scenes in the crammed area. By dusk, growing crowds of demonstrators had surged in, and Mong Kok erupted into a night of chaotic clashes. | |
“The protests have been losing steam in the past few days, but because of the police clearance more people have come out today,” said Bruce Lee, 38, a construction worker who was among the protesters. “The government has ceded no ground, offered no concession to us. We will not retreat.” | |
More than 80 people had been arrested for unlawful assembly, assaulting officers, obstruction and criminal contempt of court as of 8 p.m., according to a police spokeswoman. The confrontations rumbled late into the night, with crowds behind makeshift barricades facing lines of police officers who used nozzles to disperse pepper spray. But the protesters remained defiant, taunting and berating the officers. | |
Milling groups of protesters discussed plans to push back the police or to defend their remaining area, which was filled with thousands of people. “If too many people go home because of work tomorrow, the police might break through,” said Ross Yang, an event manager in his 20s who was among the masked protesters. “We should keep going, to tell the government that force is not a solution.” | Milling groups of protesters discussed plans to push back the police or to defend their remaining area, which was filled with thousands of people. “If too many people go home because of work tomorrow, the police might break through,” said Ross Yang, an event manager in his 20s who was among the masked protesters. “We should keep going, to tell the government that force is not a solution.” |
After 10 p.m., the tensions erupted into near panic when officers pushed back a crowd of a thousand or more, sending them spilling onto Nathan Road. The demonstrators then regrouped and held back the hundreds of advancing officers. | |
Skirmishes and confrontations between the police and protesters continued at several points around Mong Kok past midnight, and around 3 a.m. on Wednesday a bitter clash broke out, awakening hundreds of protesters who rushed in to push back against the police, who were moving closer to Nathan Road, the main protest camp. | |
“I’m here to protect my daughter and the revolution,” said Eric Leung, a postman, standing next to his daughter, a student protester. “We can’t lose Mong Kok. If we do, we must come back.” | |
Protesters hit by pepper spray were carried back from barricades, and elsewhere the police pulled down people who taunted them. Some protesters left to catch the last trains, but thousands remained. | |
Growing numbers of protesters have said it is time to consider leaving their street camps. But a minority, which is especially vocal at the Mong Kok site, has argued that only continued defiance can win concessions from the government. | |
The demonstrators want the Chinese government to open elections for the city’s leader, or chief executive, to candidates who have not been screened by Beijing. In recent weeks, the loosely organized protest movement has become polarized between moderates, mostly student leaders and older politicians, and more zealous activists. | The demonstrators want the Chinese government to open elections for the city’s leader, or chief executive, to candidates who have not been screened by Beijing. In recent weeks, the loosely organized protest movement has become polarized between moderates, mostly student leaders and older politicians, and more zealous activists. |
The Hong Kong police indicated that there would be no letup of pressure on Wednesday, when they would enforce a court injunction ordering people to clear Nathan Road. But thousands remained on the street late into the night. | |
“They spent so much time this afternoon just clearing a small section of Argyle Street, I don’t know how they’re going to clear Nathan Road,” said Jimmy Li, a 30-year-old employee of a manufacturing company. | |
Mong Kok has seen some of the worst clashes of the protests, which have generally been nonviolent. An attempt by the police to clear the site on Oct. 17 ended in humiliation when thousands of protesters surged in and forced the officers to withdraw. Earlier in October, groups of men, some later identified by the police as members of criminal gangs, attacked protesters there in a failed effort to scatter them. | |
Alex Cheng, a university student in Mong Kok wearing goggles and a safety helmet, said the protesters were exhausted but wanted to force some concessions from the government. | |
“All three areas are important to defend,” he said. “If any one of them falls, the others could easily go too.” |