HONG KONG’S pro-democracy demonstrators were attacked by hundreds of men at two sites in the city, prompting student leaders to shelve talks with the government aimed at ending weeklong street protests still engulfing the city.
The city’s embattled leader, Leung Chun-ying, appealed for calm on Friday night after the baying mobs, which began gathering in the afternoon, tried to remove barricades, shouted abuse and tussled with students. Student federation leaders in a Facebook posting accused the government of betraying their trust by allowing organized violence to be directed at them.
With dialogue on hold, prospects receded for a negotiated solution to the biggest crisis Hong Kong and its Communist Party overlords have faced since the British handed back sovereignty in 1997.
Talks were agreed upon by both sides late Thursday as a step to resolve demonstrations that have paralyzed much of central Hong Kong, closing schools, offices and affecting sales at retailers, including Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd. The Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 2.6 percent in the week, its steepest drop since March.
The biggest social upheaval in the city for almost half a century was sparked after protesters began gathering on September 26 to demand a greater choice of candidates in the 2017 leadership contest, and the resignation of Leung.
Police arrested 19 people following clashes in the Mong Kok district north of the harbor, including eight suspected of having triad gang backgrounds, Senior Superintendent Kwok Pak- chung said at a news conference on Saturday. At least 37 people were wounded on Friday in the violence, taking the number of injured throughout the protests to 131, health officials said.
Numbers of pro-democracy supporters swelled again overnight, escalating tensions as police carrying riot shields took to the streets at one stage. Police had to take the city’s subway to reach the Mong Kok fighting, Kwok said. He asked that protesters move to the main protest site near government offices in Admiralty, which escaped the clashes.
Image credits: AP/Wong Maye-E