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 Dozens of people were injured in the skirmishes, including 18
police, which raged through the night as several thousand protesters
squared off again police in the densely populated Mong Kok district.
At least 33 people were arrested, Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK
reported.
Police used batons and pepper spray, and scuffled violently with
activists, but they were eventually forced to pull back less than 24
hours after they re-opened most of the area to traffic.
The protests have been going on for three weeks and pose one of the
biggest political challenges for China since the crushing of
pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing in 1989.
Hong Kong Police Commissioner Andy Tsang broke three weeks of public
silence to say his force had been "extremely tolerant" but had
failed to stop protesters becoming more "radical or violent".
"To these protesters, you may think that your illegal acts have
prevented the police in going about our duties, disrupted our
deployments and even forced us to retreat," Tsang told a news
conference.
"Superficially, that may be the case. But let me tell you this:
these illegal acts are undermining the rule of law, undermining
(what) Hong Kong has been relying on to succeed."
After police retreated, demonstrators swiftly stacked up barricades
made out of packing crates and fences. Tsang said the reoccupation
of the area "seriously undermined public order and seriously
jeopardized public safety".
The protesters, led by a restive generation of students, have been
demanding China's Communist Party rulers live up to constitutional
promises to grant full democracy to the former British colony which
returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Hong Kong is ruled under a "one country, two systems" formula that
allows the thriving capitalist hub wide-ranging autonomy and
freedoms and specifies universal suffrage for Hong Kong as an
eventual goal.
But Beijing ruled on Aug. 31 it would screen candidates who want to
run for the city's chief executive in 2017, which democracy
activists said rendered the universal suffrage concept meaningless.
The protesters are demanding free elections for their leader.
'WE WILL STAY'
The clashes came just hours after Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader
Leung Chun-ying offered talks to student leaders next week in an
attempt to defuse the protests that have grabbed global headlines
with scenes of clashes and tear gas rising between some of the
world's most valuable office buildings.
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Leung's chief secretary, Carrie Lam, announced on Saturday that
between student leaders and the city government would take place for
two hours on Tuesday. The Mong Kok area was calm later on Saturday
with the number of protesters much smaller as activists rested.
Police stood in formation away from the barricades.
Posters declaring "Reclaim Mong Kok!" had been plastered on shop
fronts. The protesters who remained were bracing for another
bruising night.
Student Angel So, 20, said she was determined to stop police
clearing the area again. "We'll keep coming back," she said, as a
friend, Terry Leung, nursed grazes on his arms and legs from
scuffles with police.
Joshua Wong, a bookish 18-year-old whose fiery speeches have helped
drive the protests, was defiant.
"We will stay and fight till the end," he told Reuters as he
surveyed the crowd during the night, from on top of a subway station
exit.
The escalation in the confrontation illustrates the dilemma faced by
police in trying to strike a balance between law enforcement and not
inciting the protesters who have been out since late last month in
three core shopping and government districts.
Besides Mong Kok, about 1,000 protesters remained camped out on Hong
Kong Island in a sea of tents on an eight-lane highway beneath
skyscrapers close to government headquarters.
Despite Leung's offer of talks next week, few expect any resolution
without more concrete concessions from authorities.
(Additional reporting by Lawrence White, Twinnie Siu and Diana Chan;
Writing by James Pomfret and Greg Torode; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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