Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - A group of bailiffs escorted by police this morning started to remove the barricades from the vicinity of government offices, occupied for nearly two months by a peaceful sit-in involving student protesters and Democrats from Occupy Central.
Officials have cleared the area of Citic Tower in Admiralty, home to the government offices, but left the rest of the camp where young demonstrators spend the night. Students at the scene said they "did not want to protest" against this move, authorized by a High Court order.
The judges also ordered area of Mong Kok to be "cleared", another epicenter of the pro-democracy demonstrations in the Territory, while the third and last field of the protesters, Causeway Bay, seems safe thus far. As a gesture of protest, which was entirely peaceful, a group of students removed some barriers before the bailiffs "to bring to Tim Mei Avenue", the main camp of Occupy Central.
Labour Party member and great democracy activist, Lee Cheuk-yan, believes that the government "would seek a peaceful solution to resolve the situation and to end the protests, rather than relying on the courts. They should not hide behind the Court, using it to issue injunctions. We must negotiate without using the police. Our desire to work together is clear, but at the same time we want a real democracy".
For almost two months the movement "Occupy Central With
Peace and Love" has blocked certain central streets demanding full
democracy for the Territory. Beijing, which in 2004 had promised democratic
elections in 2017, at the end of August determined (through the National
People's Congress, NPC) that all the people of Hong Kong will be able to vote
for the new governor, but reserved the right to choose and vet the candidates to
be voted on.
The long sit-in by students and pro-democracy groups wants to undermine those
conditions imposed by China, while also seeking the resignation of Leung Chun-ying,
the current "governor" of Hong Kong, who has been unable to represent
the wishes of the territory in front of Beijing. In addition, Leung is
responsible for not having been able to handle the protests, using force to clear
the most impressive demonstrations.