Hong Kong pro-democracy activists recaptured parts of a core protest zone from police early yesterday after hours of turmoil that the city’s police chief warned undermined order and jeopardized public safety.
Dozens of people were injured, including 18 police, in the skirmishes that raged through the night as several thousand protesters squared off again police in the densely populated Mong Kok area.
At least 33 people were arrested, Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK reported.
Photo: EPA
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 reopened 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 (曾偉雄) 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 from 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 the Chinese Communist Party 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.
However, 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.
The clashes came just hours after pro-Beijing Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英) 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.
Hong Kong Chief Secretary Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) yesterday announced that talks between student leaders and the city government would take place for two hours on Tuesday.
The Mong Kok area was calm later yesterday, 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 (黃之鋒), a bookish 18-year-old whose fiery speeches have helped drive the protests, was defiant.
“We will stay and fight till the end,” he said 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.
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source