Hong Kong police swoop on democracy protest site
October 18, 2014, 1:05 am
Hong Kong (AFP) - Fresh clashes broke out in Hong Kong Friday night as demonstrators attempted to retake a protest camp partially cleared by police earlier in the day jeopardising talks to end weeks of mass democracy rallies
Officers used pepper spray and batons to beat back activists as they tried to reoccupy a busy main road in the bustling Mongkok district that had been host to a protest camp for nearly three weeks, an AFP reporter on the scene saw.
It is the third consecutive night violence has broken out after a fortnight of comparative calm in a development that risks sinking only recently resurrected plans to hold talks between student leaders and the city's Beijing-backed authorities.
The Asian financial hub has been rocked by demonstrations for nearly three weeks -- some of which drew crowds tens of thousands strong -- calling both for full democracy and the resignation of the city's leader Leung Chun-ying.
Protesters have held sit-ins at three major intersections causing significant disruption to a city usually known for its stability and presenting Beijing with one of the most significant challenges to its rule since the 1989 Tiananmen protests.
China has insisted that Leung's successor must be vetted by a loyalist committee before standing for election in 2017, a proposal protesters have dismissed as a "fake democracy".
Earlier in the day officers had significantly reduced the size of the Mongkok camp -- the second largest after the main protest site opposite the government's headquarters on the other side of Victoria Harbour -- in a swift dawn raid that saw no resistance put up by protesters.
The site had previously seen clashes between demonstrators and masked government loyalists earlier in the month.
Throughout Friday demonstrators managed to hold on to one side of a multi-lane road where the camp had been located. Police then struggled to maintain order as crowds of pro-democracy supporters began to swell during the evening.