Hong Kong Police Block Protesters to Keep Mong Kok Streets Open
By Alex Davis
Nov 27, 2014 12:53 PM ET
106 Comments
Police officers arrest Joshua Wong, student leader, in the Mong Kok district on November 26, 2014 in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong police pledged to keep the streets of Mong Kok open after the biggest operation in two months cleared encamped pro-democracy protesters.
Police officers lined roads, and were last night stopping and searching people in the area and noting their identity-card numbers. About 6,000 officers will be assigned to Mong Kok district until Nov. 30 to prevent reoccupation, the South China Morning Post reported today.
Sporadic skirmishes occurred last night as protesters sought to retake roads in the densely-populated entertainment and shopping district, only to be fended off by police. Holding Mong Kok will add to signs that the Hong Kong government is starting to end two months of demonstrations that were sparked by Beijing’s decision to screen candidates for the 2017 election of the city’s chief executive.
“If anyone attempts to block the reopened roads or other sections of roads, or to disrupt public order, police are duty bound to take resolute action,” Chief Superintendent Hui Chun-tak said at a briefing yesterday.
Protesters are under increasing pressure as the police enforce court orders to clear occupied sites, public support wanes and China refuses to give in to their demands. Demonstrators are still camped in hundreds of tents at Admiralty district, the main site.
Police arrested 148 people in two days of clearance in Mong Kok, Hui said yesterday. Eleven more people were taken in after 11 p.m. last night, according to the force’s website.
Student Leaders
Joshua Wong, head of the student protest group Scholarism, was detained yesterday, according to the group’s Twitter posting. Lester Shum, a leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, was also taken into custody. Both were at Mong Kok when the police started clearing Nathan Road.
“We may violate the law while staying here to continue to protest,” Shum said before he was detained. “We will stay here until the last minute.”
Separately, the police said yesterday evening that seven officers had been arrested on suspicion of assaulting Ken Tsang, a member of Hong Kong’s Civic Party, after an Oct. 15 incident shown on television news broadcasts.
Swift Operation
The police advanced steadily down Nathan Road yesterday morning, removing tents and barricades and pushing back protesters, some of whom wore helmets and carried wooden shields. After initial resistance, most protesters gave way. Standard Chartered Plc, Hang Seng Bank Ltd., Bank of East Asia Ltd. and BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd. said they shut branches in the area yesterday.
The swift operation was in contrast to the clearance of Argyle Street in Mong Kok on Nov. 25, which took more than five hours as workers and court bailiffs gradually removed barricades. Demonstrators then refused to disperse, leading to confrontations in the evening and through the night.
Mong Kok, in Kowloon on the north side of Victoria Harbour, has seen some of the most violent clashes since the demonstrations started.
Public support for the movement, which swelled after police fired tear gas at umbrella-wielding demonstrators on Sept. 28, is waning. About 68 percent of respondents said the government should take action to end the student-led protests, according to a survey conducted by the University of Hong Kong Nov. 17-18.
“I don’t care about the fading public support as we won’t forget why we are here initially,” said Bobo Ho at the protest site. “We can’t leave the students behind. For the sake of the next generation, we need to fight for real democracy.”
For Related News and Information: Schoolgirl Protester Risks Future for Hong Kong Democracy Fight Xi Calls Hong Kong Democracy Protests Illegal in Obama Exchange Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Protesters Lose Support, Poll Shows (1)
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Davis in Hong Kong at adavis150@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tan Hwee Ann at hatan@bloomberg.net Greg Ahlstrand
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