Hong Kong: Tear gas and clashes at democracy protest
Jewelz Cheng
Hong Kong: Tear gas and clashes at democracy protest
BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29398962
The BBC's Jiuliana Liu says the situation on the ground is "extremely chaotic" and that protesters show no sign of dispersing
Hong Kong police have used tear gas to disperse thousands of pro-democracy protesters near the government complex, after a week of escalating tensions.
Dozens of demonstrators were arrested, with hundreds remaining in the city centre late on Sunday.
Protesters want the Chinese government to scrap rules allowing it to vet Hong Kong's top leader in the 2017 poll.
Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung said the demonstration was "illegal" and elections would go ahead as planned.
China has also condemned the protest, and offered "its strong backing" to the Hong Kong government.
Regrouping
Protesters blocked a busy road that runs through the heart of Hong Kong's financial district on Sunday, clashing with police as they tried to join a mass sit-in outside government headquarters.
Police used pepper spray and shot tear gas into the air to drive back the protesters, who defended themselves with umbrellas and face masks.
Protesters clash with riot police on 28 September 2014 in Hong Kong.
Many protesters remained in one of central Hong Kong's main avenues on Sunday evening
A protester walks in tear gas fired by riot policemen after thousands of protesters blocking the main street to the financial district outside the government HQ in Hong Kong on 28 September 2014.
Crowds of protesters were earlier dispersed by volleys of tear gas but later returned
As evening fell, the police lobbed tear gas canisters into the crowd, scattering some of the protesters.
But many of the demonstrators regrouped and retreated to a nearby park.
At the scene - Juliana Liu, Hong Kong correspondent
After clashes with police earlier in the week, pro-democracy protesters appeared to be much better prepared on Sunday.
Many arrived sporting raincoats or wrapped in plastic with swimming goggles over their eyes - items chosen to protest against the sting of tear gas and pepper spray.
Still, there was surprise and chaos when the first round of tear gas was fired in the early evening. Thousands of people ran for cover when the canisters hit the ground, spewing white smoke and a distinctively sharp smell into the air.
I was helped by a middle-aged couple who noticed my growing baby bump and were concerned for my health. They pressed a water-soaked blue handkerchief into my face to reduce the amount of tear gas I would breath in. But they disappeared before I could thank them properly.
The student organisers behind the protest, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, have appealed for students to retreat due to fears that police could use rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
A co-organiser of the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement, Chan Kin-man, says he supports the students' decision.
Police said in a statement that they had arrested 78 people on Sunday on charges of "forcible entry into government premises, unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct in public place, assaulting public officers and obstructing police officers in due execution of duties".
It comes after the arrest of more than 70 people in Saturday's protests, including prominent student activist leader Joshua Wong, who has since been released.
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Chief Executive CY Leung said the government was "resolute in opposing the unlawful occupation" by protesters
Thousands joined a sit-in outside government headquarters this weekend, bolstering a week-old protest, which began as a strike by students calling for democratic reforms.
On Saturday night, the leader of Occupy Central, another protest movement, brought forward a planned action to merge it with the sit-in by the students outside the central government building.
A statement by the movement said Mr Leung had "failed to deliver on political reform".
But speaking in his first public statement since the protests began, Mr Leung said that he and his government had "been listening attentively to members of [the] public".
He said that political consultations would continue on the planned changes but warned that "resolute" action would be taken against the "illegal demonstration".
A pro-democracy demonstrator (C) gestures in front of a police line near the Hong Kong government headquarters on 28 September 2014.
Umbrellas were used by activists to avoid the effects of tear gas and pepper spray
People disperse after police fired tear gas upon pro-democracy demonstrators near the Hong Kong government headquarters on 28 September 2014.
The main thoroughfare in central Hong Kong was blocked for several kilometres in each direction
Protest in Hong Kong
Students and activists have been camped outside the government premises all weekend
The protesters had also called for further talks but it is not clear how far - if at all - Mr Leung's mention of further consultations will be seen as recognising their demands.
A spokesman for China's Hong Kong and Macau affairs office said that Beijing "firmly opposes all illegal activities that could undermine rule of law and jeopardise 'social tranquillity' and it offers its strong backing" to the Hong Kong government, Xinhua news agency reports.
Occupy Central had originally planned to paralyse the central business district next Wednesday, but organisers advanced the protest and changed the location in an apparent bid to harness momentum from student protests outside the government complex.
Student activists had stormed into a courtyard of the complex late on Friday and scuffled with police using pepper spray.
Police protect a cordon outside government offices in Hong Kong. 28 Sept 2014
Police protected a cordon outside the government offices on Saturday night
Unrest began when the Chinese government announced that candidates for the 2017 chief executive election would first have to be approved by a nominating committee.
Activists have argued that this does not amount to true democracy.
Hong Kong democracy timeline
1984: Britain and China sign an agreement where Hong Kong is guaranteed "a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs" for 50 years following the handover in 1997.
2004: China rules that its approval must be sought for changes to Hong Kong's election laws.
2008: China says it will consider allowing direct elections by 2017.
June-July 2014: Pro-democracy activists hold an unofficial referendum on political reform and a large rally. This is followed by protests by pro-Beijing activists.
31 August 2014: China says it will allow direct elections in 2017, but voters will only be able to choose from a list of pre-approved candidates. Activists stage protests.
22 September 2014: Student groups launch a week-long boycott of classes in protest.
Q&A: Hong Kong's democracy controversy
Comments
Don't give up and take care !!!
😐
What's wrong with pre-approved candidates? One doesn't want a random lunatic in the government. It is much better if the candidates have to be vetted to get to the ballot.
Does one drive a car without previously being vetted (ie issued a license after passing some tests)?
I hope the protesters realize their mistakes and stop making troubles in Hong-Kong.
This is just one step closer to no democracy in HKSAR...
if someone gonna rape you, just take off your pants, or else you are wasting time and getting hurt too
the problem is, the candidate need to get >50% of vote from the nominating committee
the the members of the nominating committee are mostly vested-interest people, to make it simple, the communists gov't could easily control the election
we went protest, we make traffic jam, we arose attention
we didn't hurt someone, we didn't burned a type or a car
we fight for freedom for ourselves, we are doing nothing wrong o7
Well, yes, of course there is a criteria for vetting the candidates, and if that criteria is bad, then the whole system is bad.
Generally speaking, any criteria that involves decisions of people (any people) is bad and always biased.
You should ask for a clearly defined criteria for vetting the candidates.
Just as in the driver's license example. Don't know how's that done in HK, but I'm guessing it is similar everywhere - you get to pass medical and psychological exam, then get to pass the written exam showing you know the rules and, in the final stage, you drive around with the police officer (or a dmv employee in usa) to show that you actually know to drive.
Instead of discarding the vetting principle, perhaps you could ask for a clearly defined protocol for vetting the candidates. I'd, most certainly, include a lengthy session with a psychologist and an examination under sodium pentathol or something similar. There already are too many liars and lunatics in politics, no need to add more to the pile.
the key point in our case is , the PRC and vested interests guy are controlling, if u say they needed to meet some criteria to be a candidate, this is 100% understandable o7
Like Jewelz Cheng said, the screening procedure is too restrictive. A candidate needs >50% votes from a pro-MONEY authority in order to pass the screening.
OK, then. Simple question deserves simple answer.
"The stakeholders can snowball with their power and turn HK into another South Korea."
Do you know there are 65 year-old South-Korean female doing prostitution? Do you know Samsung family have privileged power in South Korea?
I have no intention to insult Korean players, but this is the Korean life style I learned from my Korean teacher in Political-Science-101.
So basically a puppet government.
If you say it that way, then the car is a remote one controlled by some dude that not on car and the passengers couldn't do anything about it. The location is unknown.
Is that really a ideal place to be in? Maybe yes for you, but it's easily to see why people would say no.
History have tons of events with countries that had puppet government, they usually ends up with corruptions on high officials and violence toward powerless people. Let's hoping that the history won't repeat itself. (Highly doubting though)
It's a way of corrupting the HK government and getting PRC Communist Party supporters into it 😐
I wouldn't be surprised if the special administrative status is revoked in in decades to come 🙁
Powerless people are usually a majority. Violence against them is something that is ill-advised and it always breaks on the heads of the powerful people, eventually.
From my viewpoint, Peoples' Republic of China is only getting stronger, better and more powerful in every aspect by the minute. That can only be good for the people of PRC and that, probably, means their politicians are not traitors and retards. Therefore, I doubt they'd find oppressing the (global or local) majority of their people to be a good idea.
Then, again, I live on the opposite side of this planet, so, perhaps my viewpoint is not that accurate.
o7
Admin pls add HongKong lol
tear gas in metro station
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=637557673008567
link http://tinyurl.com/k92fv2b
V
God bless HK.
V加油 香港
V
Chi Na Communist Supporting Dog / Pig won't read the English articles.
Please report all Chi Na Communist Supporting Dog / Pig in eC that they always publish the Spam post.
香港烂仔真可怜,啧
Civil Disobedience !! o7