Hong Kong police clear pro-democracy protest in Mong Kok

17102014

Hong Kong police cleared a pro-democracy protest site in the city’s densely populated Mong Kok area today, meeting no resistance as they removed barricades and tents.

The Mong Kok site, which was nearly empty when police moved in, has seen violent scuffles between demonstrators calling for full democracy in the southern Chinese city and opposition groups during almost three weeks of rallies.

The site is separate to the largest protest site outside government offices in the Admiralty district on the city’s main island. Meanwhile, Chief Executive CY Leung’s decision to postpone a planned Question & Answer session at the Legislative Council yesterday came as a disappointment to the Occupy movement.

Police in Hong Kong have cleared one of the 3 main roads occupied by pro-democracy protesters.

Officers removed barricades and tents on the main road in Kowloon early on Friday morning. The dawn raid met little resistance from the small number of protesters at the site.

The road reopened nearly 3 weeks after the demonstrators, mainly students, began their sit-in.
But more than 100 people were still blocking one lane after the police left the area.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said on Thursday that his government is ready to hold dialogue with the protesters as early as next week.

The students accepted the offer of dialogue, but said that if they are evicted before the talks, it would reveal the government’s insincerity.