Occupy Central Hijacks Pro-Democracy Protests In Hong Kong, Police Respond

Hong Kong police fired tear gas at protestors gathered outside government headquarters Sunday, warning of further measures to put down a challenge to Beijing over its decision to restrict democratic reforms for the semiautonomous city.

Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under “one country, two systems” which guaranteed a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not offered by the Communist Party in mainland PRC (People’s Republic of China). Universal suffrage was set as a goal, but many reforms have yet to materialize.

Then, Beijing rejected demands for people to freely choose the city’s next leader last month, prompting threats from activists to shut down the Central financial district in what is the boldest act of civil disobedience since Britain gave up its former colony. China wants to limit elections to a handful of candidates loyal to the Communist Party in Beijing, and had promised first-ever elections for Hong Kong’s leaders by 2017.

Students and activists have been camped out on the streets outside the government complex since late Friday. Students started the rally, but early Sunday leaders of the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement hijacked the protest, announcing that they were joining them to kick off a mass sit-in to demand an election for Hong Kong’s leader without Beijing’s interference.

The presence of the Occupy movement escalated what had already been a tense situation between pro-democratic activists and police, resulting in police lobbing canisters of tear gas into the crowd on Sunday evening, charging the crowd blocking a key road in the government district with batons in lines five deep. The fumes sent protestors scurrying for a moment, but many regrouped and came right back to continue their protest.

“If today I don’t stand out, I will hate myself in future,” taxi driver Edward Yeung, 55, told Reuters. “Even if I get a criminal record it will be a glorious one.”

Police issued a statement urging the protesters to “leave peacefully and orderly. Otherwise police will use a higher level of force in order to restore public order and safeguard public safety.”

But an already-chaotic scene spiraled further out of control as the protesters chanted “Shame on C.Y. Leung,” who is the city’s deeply unpopular Beijing puppet leader. Leung Chun-Ying had pledged “resolute” action against the protest movement, known as Occupy Central with Love and Peace in a statement made less than two hours before the police baton-charged the crowd.

“The police are determined to handle the situation appropriately in accordance with the law,” Leung said.

“It was very cruel for the police to use such harsh violence on protesters who had been completely peaceful,” said one of the demonstrators, Cecily Lui, a 30-year-old clerk. “They were just sitting down on the road asking to speak with (Hong Kong leader) Leung Chun-ying to start a dialogue. Now, police have solved nothing and students are more resolved to stay.”

The Communist Party of China has required that Beijing screen election candidates for patriotism, which has stoked fears among pro-democracy groups that Hong Kong will never see promised democratic reforms.

Hong Kong’s publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai, a supporter of the democracy movement, said he hoped the crowd swelled to the point the police crackdown would have to end.

“The more Hong Kong citizens come, the more unlikely the police can clear up the place,” said Lai. “Even if we get beaten up, we cannot fight back. We will win this war with love and peace.”

Organizers on the ground claim as many as 80,000 people took to the streets in Admiralty following the arrests of student activists on Friday. However, we have not been able to get independent verification of those numbers.

Police have arrested 78 people at last count, including Joshua Wong, a 17-year-old leader of the student group Scholarism. He was taken away after he called on the protesters to charge the government premises. He was soon released from without charge on Sunday evening, the South China Morning Post reported. He told reporters that he planned to return to the protest site after getting much-needed rest. Wong’s parents said in a statement his arrest was an act of “political persecution.”

While there are legitimate pro-democratic groups who have long-sought to act as a watchdog monitoring the reform process in Beijing and Hong Kong, the entrance of the Occupy movement has muddied the protestors intentions in the minds of those capable of implementing reforms. Business leaders, Hong’s Kongs source of wealth, jobs, economic freedom and trade, view the Occupy movement for what they are — an anti-economic freedom and borderline anarchist group disguised as pro-democratic activists.

Hong Kong’s most powerful tycoons have spoken out against the Occupy movement, warning it could threaten the city’s economic freedom and stability.