Hong Kong (AsiaNews / Agencies) - After a night of tension between pro-democracy protesters and police, today the Hong Kong security forces evacuated the "Civic Square" in the square in front of government headquarters in Tamar and arrested 50 students. The young people allowed police to carry them away without resisting, chanting the slogan: " No fear for civil disobedience". A spokesman of the police said that they will be taken to the Police College in Wong Chuk Hang-which will be used as a temporary detention center.
The week-long strike launched by university students - who yesterday were joined by 1,200
high school students - culminated
in chaos last night when about 200 demonstrators
managed to break the barricades
and enter Civic
Square. At 7:20 this
morning (local time) the police showed up in riot
gear and used pepper spray
to disperse them.
Meanwhile, the authorities have denied
bail to Joshua
Wong Chi-fung, president of Scholarism student group, who was arrested
last night. He is being charged with
three misdemeanors, but police have yet to confirm which. Gary Fong Chi-shun,
of the Students Federation, has announced that the protesters will gather at Tamar
until the Chief Executive of the Territory Leung Chun-ying
and the administration respond to their questions on universal suffrage;
why they used so
much violence; and until all
those arrested are released.
Strikes and public events linked to Occupy Central
- a non-violent movement that
calls for democracy for the former British colony - recommenced after
the Chinese central government rejected the
demands of the local population for
the vote of 2017. Beijing has determined that the forthcoming elections for
the political leadership of
Hong Kong will take
place through a system vetted candidates, "two
or three" at most, and that the
vote will be indirect.
To protest this decision,
Occupy Central announced a "Democracy
banquet," whose "first
course" will be a great event
scheduled for October 1. The local police, to try to curb these protests, announced that "the
public meetings of more than 50 people
and marches with more than 30 participants will require our permission.
Without which they will be considered
unauthorized and therefore unlawful."