Tensions flared yesterday evening between Hong Kong protesters and police as crowds gathered a year to the day after the start of huge pro-democracy rallies which brought parts of the territory to a standstill.
All day crowds had numbered just a few hundred, a reflection of the movement’s loss of momentum after failing to push Beijing into allowing fully free leadership elections in the territory.
However, as 5:58pm neared — the exact time a year ago when police fired tear gas at protesters — hundreds more poured in to the roads and walkways near government headquarters in the Admiralty district.
Instead of a planned moment of silence, protesters opened yellow umbrellas — symbol of the pro-democracy movement — while police warned them to back down, saying they would “use force” if they tried to occupy the nearby main road.
Hundreds of angry demonstrators shouting: “Open the roads” faced off with tense police for more than an hour at the edge of the main road before the crowds dispersed voluntarily.
At the height of last year’s protests, which lasted for 79 days, tens of thousands regularly gathered to demand political reform in a major challenge to China’s rulers. Yet despite the unprecedented rallies which garnered extensive coverage across the world, protesters were unable to force change.
Frustrated activists now say they must regroup and come up with new strategies, conceding that changing the minds of Beijing and the Hong Kong government is currently a hopeless task.
Protest leaders yesterday encouraged the crowd to fight on.
“The authorities will still be against us, but that doesn’t mean we will give up,” student leader Lester Shum (岑敖暉) said.
Occupy Central cofounder Benny Tai (戴耀廷) said last year was “one of the most important years in Hong Kong history.”
“The Umbrella Movement ... was just the beginning for Hong Kongers in their quest for democracy,” he said.
Some protesters expressed their anger at the lack of progress.
“We have not achieved universal suffrage,” said a woman in her 30s, who gave her name as Lam. “Society is not geared to helping Hong Kongers.”
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