Clashes in Hong Kong as pro-democracy protesters regroup

Hong Kong riot police used pepper spray and baton-charged pro-democracy protesters who mobilised en masse yesterday evening in the Chinese-controlled financial hub.

More than 1,000 protesters, some clad in protective goggles and helmets, thronged to the gritty and congested Mong Kok district after work and school yesterday, to try to reclaim sections of an intersection that police had cleared in a surprise pre-dawn raid yesterday morning.

Student leaders urged people via Facebook and social media to retake the area that has been a flashpoint for ugly street fights between students and mobs, including triads, or local gangsters, intent on breaking up their unprecedented protest movement.

Demonstrators chanting “open the road” tried to break through multiple police lines and used upturned umbrellas to shield themselves from pepper spray. In the melee, police used batons and scuffled violently with throngs of activists, some of whom were taken into police custody.

Protest leader

“It’s vital to keep this site,” said Joshua Wong, an 18-year-old who has emerged as a leader of the protests. “All the sites are very important. We will stay and fight till the end,” he said.

Before dawn yesterday, hundreds of police staged their biggest raid yet on a pro-democracy protest camp, charging down activists who had held the intersection for more than three weeks. – Reuters