|
 The flare-up came just hours after court bailiffs managed to clear
part of a protest camp in the heart of the city that has been
occupied by pro-democracy demonstrators for nearly two months, while
leaving most of the main protest site intact.
About 100 riot police with helmets, batons and shields stood guard
outside the government building in the early hours of Wednesday,
facing off with protesters who are demanding free elections for the
city's next leader in 2017.
Four people, aged between 18 and 24, were arrested while three
officers were treated in hospital for injuries, police said in a
statement. The protest site was peaceful later in the morning, with
just a handful of police on guard.
It was the first time protesters had broken into a key public
building, defying the expectations of many political analysts who
had predicted that Hong Kong's most tenacious and protracted protest
movement would slowly wind down.
 A small group of protesters charged toward the legislature and used
metal barricades and concrete tiles to ram a glass side door. They
eventually smashed through, with several managing to get inside,
witnesses said.
Scores of riot police, some with shields and helmets, rushed over,
using pepper spray and batons to keep other demonstrators from also
smashing their way in.
A democratic lawmaker at the scene, Fernando Cheung, said he and
other protesters had tried to stop the activists from breaking
through.
"This is a very, very isolated incident. I think it's very
unfortunate and this is something we don't want to see happen
because the movement so far has been very peaceful," he said.
[to top of second column] |
Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to China in 1997 under
a "one country, two systems" formula that gives the city more
autonomy and freedom than the mainland, with an eventual goal of
universal suffrage.
The protesters are demanding open nominations in the city's next
election for chief executive in 2017. Beijing has said it will allow
a free vote, but only for pre-screened candidates.
On Tuesday, about 30 court bailiffs arrived at the 33-storey Citic
Tower, also in the Admiralty district, to enforce an injunction
forbidding street barricades.
A similar injunction has been issued for a street in the gritty
district of Mong Kok across the harbor.
(Additional reporting by Tyrone Siu and Farah Master; Editing by
Anne Marie Roantree and Nick Macfie)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
