CHINA-HONG KONG/PROTEST/OCCUPY REAX Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters defiant as police use tear gas

Record ID: 836396

  • Title: CHINA-HONG KONG/PROTEST/OCCUPY REAX Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters defiant as police use tear gas
  • Date: 28th September 2014
  • Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (SEPTEMBER 29, 2014) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ++NIGHT SHOTS++ RIOT POLICE MARCHING IN FORMATION THROUGH PROTEST PROTESTERS MORE OF RIOT POLICE MARCHING THROUGH PROTEST / SOMETHING BEING THROWN AT POLICE RIOT POLICE SURROUNDED BY PROTESTERS VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS SETTING UP BLOCKADE NEXT TO BUS TOP VIEW OF PROTESTERS DISPERSING AS TEAR GAS IS FIRED / WHITE SMOKE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS AND POLICE / THIN WHITE SMOKE FROM TEAR GAS LINGERING IN AIR TOP VIEW OF NEAR EMPTY PART OF STREET NEXT TO BLOCKADE PROTESTERS AND POLICE VARIOUS OF FIRE TRUCK ARRIVING / CROWD CHANTING POLICE WAVING BATON TOP VIEW OF PROTESTERS NEXT TO BUS WHITE SMOKE RISING FROM STREET / FIRE TRUCK SIREN BLASTING VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS IN STREET AFTER TEAR GAS IS FIRED HONG KONG, CHINA (SEPTEMBER 28, 2014) (REUTERS) ++NIGHT SHOTS++ VARIOUS OF CO-LEADER OF "OCCUPY CENTRAL WITH LOVE AND PEACE", CHAN KIN-MAN, DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) CO-LEADER OF 'OCCUPY CENTRAL WITH LOVE AND PEACE', CHAN KIN-MAN, SAYING: "The scale of today occupation is beyond our expectations. You know it's not just Admiraly but Wanchai, Central we also occupy. I mean part of the road we occupy. And it's purely initiated by the people themselves. It is not our operations. So people are really determined to fight for democracy and their own dignities. And it's very encouraging to us." VARIOUS OF RUBBISH LEFT BY PROTESTERS BY GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) CO-LEADER OF "OCCUPY CENTRAL WITH LOVE AND PEACE", CHAN KIN-MAN, SAYING: "But seeing this is such an impactful incident, particularly because of the tear gas, you know, deployment. We need to sit down and review what happened to date, and I guess it's time to ask the government to step down. I mean talking about C.Y. Leung to step down." POLICE AND POLICE VANS (SOUNDBITE) (English) CO-LEADER OF "OCCUPY CENTRAL WITH LOVE AND PEACE", CHAN KIN-MAN, SAYING: "So I guess a week later, I hope that we can sit down to review the situation and then talk about our next step. In the coming few days I'll probably be arrested and detained for 48 hours or more. So I don't think we can handle any more occupation in the near futures." VARIOUS OF SCENE OUTSIDE GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS
  • Embargoed: 13th October 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7OZLY3R5XEXTCD043PDX38OGV
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Riot police advanced on Hong Kong democracy protesters in the early hours of Monday (September 29), firing volleys of tear gas that sent some fleeing as others erected barricades to block the security forces in the heart of the former British colony.
    Earlier, police baton-charged a crowd blocking a key road in the government district in defiance of official warnings that the demonstrations were illegal.
    Several scuffles broke out between police in helmets, gas masks and riot gear, and demonstrators angered by the tear gas, last used in Hong Kong in 2005.
    The unrest is the worst since China took back control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997. It poses a serious challenge to Communist Party leaders in Beijing, concerned that calls for democracy could spread to cities on the mainland and threaten their grip on power.
    Thousands of protesters were still milling around the main Hong Kong government building, ignoring messages from student and pro-democracy leaders to retreat for fear that the police might fire rubber bullets.
    Police, in lines five deep in places, earlier used pepper spray against activists and shot tear gas into the air. The crowds fled several hundred yards (metres), scattering their umbrellas and hurling abuse at police they called "cowards".
    Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule under a formula known as "one country, two systems" that guaranteed a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China. Universal suffrage was set as an eventual goal.
    But Beijing last month rejected demands for people to freely choose the city's next leader, prompting threats from activists to shut down the Central business district. China wants to limit elections to a handful of candidates loyal to Beijing.
    The protests later spread to the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay and across the harbour to Mong Kok, posing a greater challenge for authorities to contain, local media reported.
    In a move certain to unnerve authorities in Beijing, media in Taiwan reported that student movement leaders had occupied the lobby of Hong Kong's representative office on the island in a show of support for the democracy protesters.
    Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying had earlier pledged "resolute" action against the protest movement, known as Occupy Central with Love and Peace.
    The leaders of Occupy Central said they have been overwhelmed by the response to their pro-democracy civil disobedience.
    "The scale of today's occupation is beyond expectations. It's not just Admiraly it's also Central, Wanchai, we occupy. I mean part of the road we occupy. And it's purely initiated from the people themselves. It is not our operations. So people are really determined to fight for democracy and their own dignities. And it's very encouraging to us," said Chan Kin-man, one of the co-leaders of "Occupy Central with Love and Peace", on Sunday (September 28).
    "But seeing this is such an impactful incident, particularly because of the tear gas, you know, deployment, we need to sit down and review what happened to date, and I guess it's time to ask the government to step down. I mean talking about C.Y. Leung to step down," Chan added.
    The movement's leaders would remain until they got arrested, he added.
    "So I guess a week later, I hope that we can sit down to review the situation and then talk about our next step. In the coming few days I'll probably be arrested and detained for 48 hours or more. So I don't think we can handle any more occupation in the near futures," said Chan.
    Local TV showed hundreds of protesters blocking traffic in the popular shopping hubs of Causeway Bay and Mong Kok after partly clearing the area near the government headquarters, the location of original student protests which began last Monday (September 22).
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