A roundup of global reports  
    Skirmishes broke out in Hong Kong today between pro-democracy    demonstrators and groups opposed to them, heightening tensions    after weeks of largely peaceful protest.  
    Early Monday morning police moved back numerous protest barriers    in order to clear space for cars to begin moving through key    streets in the financial district, The Associated Press    reports.  
    Students have been demonstrating for more than two weeks,    demanding the open nomination of chief executive candidates for    elections who arent pre-approved by Beijing. On Sunday,    Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying called the pro-democracy    movement out of control and said the student protests had    almost zero chance of changing Beijings stance on Hong Kong.  
    Officers this morning said their intention in removing some    barricades was not to curb the protests themselves.  
    Hours after the fences were brought down or pushed back,    hundreds of people wearing blue ribbons marched    to a main protest zone near government offices in    opposition to the pro-democracy protests. Scuffles between    the groups broke out, reports The Washington Post.  
      As they chanted slogans against the sit-in, groups of men      took advantage of the chaos to rush the barricades at both      ends of Queensway, a normally busy street flanked by gleaming      skyscrapers.    
      At one end, they successfully removed many barricades, using      knives to cut through the plastic ties that had held them      together and even taking away some of the students tents in      two large trucks. At the other end, they were less      successful, as students quickly regrouped to man the barriers      and the two sides clashed.    
      There were 40 or 50 of them, all very organized  they      didn't talk to us, they just removed the barriers violently,      said 23-year-old student Chokin Wong, who was sitting down in      the middle of the street. We don't want to give back the      road to violent people.    
    Many residents are fed up with the mostly young    protesters, either because they are tired of the congestion    thats built up downtown after weeks of protest, or because    they are pro-Beijing, reports The New York Times. Those who    turned out today against the ongoing protests told students    they were pawns of the West and accused them of not being real    Chinese, The Washington Post reports.  
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Clashes at Hong Kong pro-democracy protests after police barricades removed