HONGKONG-CHINA/PROTEST-GOVERNMENT Hong Kong government to begin talks with students despite protesters retaking Mong Kok

Record ID: 335644

  • Title: HONGKONG-CHINA/PROTEST-GOVERNMENT Hong Kong government to begin talks with students despite protesters retaking Mong Kok
  • Date: 18th October 2014
  • Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (OCTOBER 18, 2014) (REUTERS) HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE LEUNG CHUN YING WALKING DOWN STAIRS WITH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS LEUNG WALKING DOWN STAIRS WITH OFFICIALS HONG KONG CHIEF SECRETARY CARRIE LAM WALKING TO PODIUM FOR MEDIA CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HONG KONG CHIEF SECRETARY, CARRIE LAM, SAYING: "This dialogue is now likely to take place next Tuesday
  • Embargoed: 2nd November 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9ESZWKDDKGLT5WQDISX2OUJ81
  • Story Text: Hong Kong's Chief Secretary Carrie Lam said on Saturday (October 18) that government talks with the Hong Kong Federation of Students would not be affected by unrest in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district.
    The clashes came just hours after Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader Leung Chun-ying 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.
    "This dialogue is now likely to take place next Tuesday afternoon. In fact, this is the earliest of three days that we have given to the Federation of Students. So we prefer an early date to have this dialogue with the Federation of Students," she said.
    Lam added that the student-to-government talks will be held with the help of a moderator, Lingnan University president Leonard K Cheng and will last a total of two hours.
    Pro-democracy activists recaptured parts of a core protest zone from police early on Saturday (October 18) after hours of turmoil that the city's police chief warned undermined order and jeopardised public safety.
    Dozens of people were injured in the skirmishes, including 18 police, which raged through the night as several thousand protesters squared off again police in the densely populated Mong Kok district.
    At least 33 people were arrested, Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK reported.
    Lam said that the police's actions towards students, or vice-versa, did not affect the talks, as they were two different matters.
    "As the chief executive said, a dialogue is dialogue. Occupy Central is Occupy Central. They are two different. If you have watched yesterday's news, the things that happened in the morning and evening were actions to clean the area. The police wish to fulfil the citizens' demands to reopen the roads which were blocked," she said.
    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 re-opened most of the area to traffic.
    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".
    Hong Kong Secretary for Security Lai Tung-Kwok denounced protesters' actions as "dangerous".
    "The actions of these protesters are not peaceful. They are dangerous, create much chaos and have destroyed public order. I blame these actions which destroyed public order on the belligerent which planned these actions to fight against the police. All of these actions are illegal and destroy public order," said Lai.
    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.
    The protesters, led by a restive generation of students, have been demanding China's Communist Party rulers 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.
    But 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.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register