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Hong Kong protests: Police fire tear gas, clash with pro-democracy demonstrators
Updated 28 minutes agoSun 28 Sep 2014, 10:38pm
Occupy Central Hong Kong protester
PHOTO: An Occupy Central protester raises his umbrellas in front of tear gas fired by Hong Kong police. (Reuters: Tyrone Siu)
RELATED STORY: Hong Kong students take democracy demands to CBD
MAP: Hong Kong
Hong Kong police have fired repeated volleys of tear gas to disperse pro-democracy protests and baton-charged the crowd blocking a key road in the government district after official warnings against illegal demonstrations.
Student groups are spearheading a civil disobedience campaign along with democracy activists to pressure Beijing into granting full democracy to Hong Kong.
The city’s central district descended into chaos on Sunday as chanting protesters converged on police barricades surrounding their colleagues, who had earlier launched a “new era” of civil disobedience.
Riot police staged repeated pepper spray and baton charges and threw tear gas at the crowds. Police have not used tear gas in Hong Kong since 2005.
Organisers said as many as 80,000 people thronged the streets in the city’s Admiralty district, galvanised by the arrests of student activists on Friday.
Chanting “remove the blockade” and “shame on you”, thousands of protesters blocked some of Hong Kong’s busiest streets and milled among the stalled traffic.
The police are warning they could use greater force if the tens of thousands demonstrators do not leave the area.
Police commissioner Andy Tsang is standing by his officers’ actions.
“We only use force when it’s necessary and ensure only the minimum necessary force is used,” he said.
“The police have a duty to protect the members of public and will take action as necessary to ensure this is done.”
Protesters gather during a demonstration outside headquarters of the Legislative Counsel on 28 September 2014 in Hong Kong.
PHOTO: An estimated 80,000 pro-democracy protesters have blocked streets in central Hong Kong. (AFP/Xaume Olleros)
Earlier, Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying had pledged “resolute” and “lawful” action against the movement known as Occupy Central with Love and Peace.
“The police are determined to handle the situation appropriately in accordance with the law,” Mr Leung said just hours before the charge began.
"We’ve been encouraging people to express their views in a rational and peaceful manner and accommodate different views. The Hong Kong government rationally is against the Occupy Central Movement and the founders’ move to occupy central illegally.
A spokesperson for China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office added that the central government fully supported Hong Kong’s handling of the situation “in accordance with the law”.
‘We will win this war with love and peace’
Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a formula known as “one country, two systems” that guaranteed a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China.
But Beijing last month rejected demands for people to freely choose the city’s next leader, prompting threats from activists to shut down Central. China wants to limit elections to a handful of candidates loyal to Beijing.
While promising a fresh round of public consultation, Mr Leung also described Beijing’s decision as “legally binding” but said the government will do its best to address the protesters’ concerns.
“Let me make an appeal to the very sectors of the community to engage in rational discussions through peaceful and lawful means so as to allow the 5 million eligible voters in Hong Kong to elect the chief executive in 2017 for the first time in Hong Kong’s history by one person, one vote,” he said…
Publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai, a key backer of the democratic movement, said he wanted as big a crowd of protesters as possible to thwart any crackdown.
“The more Hong Kong citizens come, the more unlikely the police can clear up the place,” Mr Lai said.
“Even if we get beaten up, we cannot fight back. We will win this war with love and peace.”
No independent estimate of the crowd numbers was available but the action is being seen as the most tenacious civil disobedience action since 1997.
A week of protests escalated into violence when demonstrators broke through a cordon late on Friday and scaled a fence to invade the city’s main government compound.
Police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd, arresting 78 people.
Facebook showing a lot of military equipment being deployed.
If anyone knows how to deal with public unrest, it's the Chinese.
If anyone knows how to deal with public unrest, it's the Chinese.
What do you mean, there's been no major student protest there and there's especially been no major student protest in, say, Tiannemen square.
#standbyyaco
#standbyCJ
How dare they ask to have a say in what happens to them? Anyone would think humans had inalienable rights or something.
i just hope the Chinese government doesn't react the same way they did in Tiananmen Square.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989
Listen to you guys. Western Propaganda.
So if someone was to say be heading to HK in the next 3 weeks, would you advise them not to go?
My favorite city.
Every bodies favourite city but still not the same since the Bridish left. Lucky for OZ as we have ended up with heaps of HK's brightest as a result.
Social unrest stems mainly from economic reasons, not political ones. Hong Kong is one of the most expensive cities to live and yet the minimum wage there is less than $4 AUD per hour. Housing is at least 3 to 4 times the equivalent of major cities in Australia. Although the top income tax rate is lower than Australia, median income there is only halve or less than that of Australia. Young people wanting to get public housing assistance can be waiting for more than 5+ years. There are no government pensions, unemployment benefits etc. etc.
Housing is by far the biggest problem for the young generation and it has gotten worse, much worse, since the territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
There was a rally about this at the State Library last night.
So if someone was to say be heading to HK in the next 3 weeks, would you advise them not to go?
You'll be fine. Hong Kong is a big place and where they are is central but shouldn't affect you.
Social unrest stems mainly from economic reasons, not political ones. Hong Kong is one of the most expensive cities to live and yet the minimum wage there is less than $4 AUD per hour. Housing is at least 3 to 4 times the equivalent of major cities in Australia. Although the top income tax rate is lower than Australia, median income there is only halve or less than that of Australia. Young people wanting to get public housing assistance can be waiting for more than 5+ years. There are no government pensions, unemployment benefits etc. etc.
Housing is by far the biggest problem for the young generation and it has gotten worse, much worse, since the territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
I'm not sure about that. This protest in particular is about the Chinese government basically vetoing who is allowed to run for parliament. Think of it as the Carlton board deciding who will be on the Essendon board. The other things are issues but they haven't been protesting as loudly about it yet.
Social unrest stems mainly from economic reasons, not political ones. Hong Kong is one of the most expensive cities to live and yet the minimum wage there is less than $4 AUD per hour. Housing is at least 3 to 4 times the equivalent of major cities in Australia. Although the top income tax rate is lower than Australia, median income there is only halve or less than that of Australia. Young people wanting to get public housing assistance can be waiting for more than 5+ years. There are no government pensions, unemployment benefits etc. etc.
Housing is by far the biggest problem for the young generation and it has gotten worse, much worse, since the territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
I'm not sure about that. This protest in particular is about the Chinese government basically vetoing who is allowed to run for parliament. Think of it as the Carlton board deciding who will be on the Essendon board. The other things are issues but they haven't been protesting as loudly about it yet.
For sure, the pretext for this protest is about the election of the ceo of HKG. All I am saying is that the cumulative effect of all these other social issues means this is the straw that broke the camels back. Chinese people, even the younger generation,are much less politically oriented than people in western cultures. Priority has always been given to family economic security than politics even nowadays. I hope things will be different in China a few generations from now.
A prime example of how things have turned out differently is the way Singapore is 'managed' vs HKG pre and post 1997.
Social unrest stems mainly from economic reasons, not political ones. Hong Kong is one of the most expensive cities to live and yet the minimum wage there is less than $4 AUD per hour. Housing is at least 3 to 4 times the equivalent of major cities in Australia. Although the top income tax rate is lower than Australia, median income there is only halve or less than that of Australia. Young people wanting to get public housing assistance can be waiting for more than 5+ years. There are no government pensions, unemployment benefits etc. etc.
Housing is by far the biggest problem for the young generation and it has gotten worse, much worse, since the territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
I'm not sure about that. This protest in particular is about the Chinese government basically vetoing who is allowed to run for parliament. Think of it as the Carlton board deciding who will be on the Essendon board. The other things are issues but they haven't been protesting as loudly about it yet.
For sure, the pretext for this protest is about the election of the ceo of HKG. All I am saying is that the cumulative effect of all these other social issues means this is the straw that broke the camels back. Chinese people, even the younger generation,are much less politically oriented than people in western cultures. Priority has always been given to family economic security than politics even nowadays. I hope things will be different in China a few generations from now.
A prime example of how things have turned out differently is the way Singapore is 'managed' vs HKG pre and post 1997.
Macau is in a very similar boat to HK. They haven't been as protesty though, but when there is a real fear of China you can understand why. Tienanmen is always whispered when protest is mentioned.
i was in Thailand for a week around the time of the protests. Bear in mind that protests happen every week in hk - this is just a larger scale protest, though its being magnified in importance.It was the number 1 or 2 story on Al Jazeera,Fox News and BBC World. I would describe it as an inconvenience,rather than out of control.
Think HK people are being too precious - They have far more voting right since the Beijing handover, as opposed to the 154 years of British rule,which is often overlooked in the debate. HK have far more freedoms,better lifestyle,better opportunities etc,etc than their Mainland cousins. - There is no difference between Hong Kong pre and post 1997.
Personally, I think it's an over-reaction from Hong Kongers who are seduced by how 'Perfect democracy' is supposed to work. There may some changes at the margins but life will go on as normal.
One last point is that because it wasn't an organised protest, there was no defined leaders who could freely negotiate with Hong Kong leaders.