Clashes break out between HK protesters, residents

HONG KONG — Clashes broke out Friday as Hong Kong residents and pro-Beijing supporters tried to force pro-democracy activists from the streets they were occupying, reviving the possibility that the weeklong standoff could turn violent despite an attempt by the city’s leader to defuse the situation.

The scuffles in Kowloon’s crowded Mong Kok district were the most chaotic since police used tear gas and pepper spray on Sunday in an unsuccessful attempt to disperse protesters pressing for greater electoral reforms.

Police were hard-pressed to keep order as the two sides tussled in a tense standoff. The visibly older people trying to force the vastly outnumbered protesters out were yelling, shoving and at times trying to drag the younger protesters away.

Police formed cordons and escorted some of the protesters away as hundreds chanted, “Go home!”

The democracy activists linked arms and held hands as they tried to stand their ground against the huge crowd. At one point, police brought in a stretcher to take away a young man, although it was unclear why.

The police themselves were linking arms in an attempt to keep those agitating to get the area cleared of protesters from pushing into their ranks. The protesters and many onlookers were filming the confrontations; one man tried to grab a video camera from a demonstrator’s hand.

“I would like to appeal to members of the public that they should observe the laws of Hong Kong when they are expressing their views,” police spokesman Steve Hui said when asked about the confrontation in Mong Kok, a working class area far from the main protest site in downtown Hong Kong, the Admiralty area near the territory’s government headquarters.

Benny Tai, leader of the broader pro-democracy movement Occupy Central With Love and Peace issued a public call for all protesters to shift back to Admiralty where they began their protests last weekend. He said the group was confident they could guarantee the protesters’ safety if they moved back to that area.

The protests, led mostly by university students, have been in the streets since last Friday, pushing for the Chinese government to reverse its recent decision requiring a mostly pro-Beijing committee approve candidates for Hong Kong’s first election to choose the territory’s leader in 2017. The demonstrators want open nominations.

The protests are the biggest challenge to Beijing’s authority since China took control of the former British colony in 1997.

Student protesters had threatened to surround or occupy government buildings if the city’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, did not step down by Thursday, and police had warned of serious consequences if they did that. Late Thursday, Leung held a news conference to offer the talks, but said “I will not resign.”

Some who are sympathetic to the protesters’ demands for wider political reforms complained the police were not doing enough to protect the demonstrators.

“We saw people with no uniforms in Causeway Bay and Mong Kok attack protesters and take away their belongings,” said Cyd Ho, vice-chairwoman of the Labor Party.

“Police have the duty to safeguard peaceful demonstrations by Hong Kong citizens,” Ho said. “If police do not intervene this sets a dangerous precedent ... that if people are unhappy with protesters they can attack them with impunity.”

But some Hong Kong residents complained that the protests were undermining their livelihoods.

“It affected my company, a perfume business, to deliver goods in the area,” said Ken Lai in the bustling Causeway Bay neighborhood. “I really dislike the fact that they occupied so many areas, all scattered around the city. I’m a Hong Konger too. The occupiers don’t represent all of us.”

A front-page editorial Friday in the People’s Daily newspaper, published by China’s ruling Communist Party, underlined the leadership’s unwillingness to negotiate changes to its August decision. - AP