Protesters who barricaded themselves in a Hong Kong university partially cleared a road they were blocking and demanded that the Hong Kong government commit to holding local elections on Nov. 24.
One lane of the Tolo Highway was cleared in both directions yesterday morning, but the road remained closed after workers sent to clean up shattered glass and other remaining debris were threatened by protesters with bows and arrow and hard objects, authorities said.
“Since the highway is still filled with hard objects and devoid of any road signs or traffic cones, reopening the road would certainly cause danger to road users,” a government statement said.
Photo: Bloomberg
The protesters at the Chinese University of Hong Kong said the road would be blocked again and warned of other unspecified consequences if the government did not agree to meet their demand within 24 hours.
The district council elections are seen as a barometer of public sentiment in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory, which has been riven by pro-democracy protests for more than five months.
Activists have said that the government might use the escalating violence as a reason to cancel the elections.
Meanwhile, the police said that they would investigate the death of a 70-year-old man who was hit in the head by a brick as a murder case.
The man died of his injuries on Thursday night and the Hong Kong government expressed outrage over what it called “the malicious acts of the rioters.”
In London, Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng (鄭若驊) was allegedly pushed to the ground by activists who were following her and shouting at her, injuring her hand, the Chinese embassy said.
“We express strong indignation and unequivocally condemn the activists,” the embassy said in a statement. “Now they are taking such violence abroad and into the UK.”
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) called the alleged attack on Cheng “barbaric” and said that it went against the principles of a civilized society.
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