Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters extended a blockade of Hong Kong streets today, stockpiling supplies and erecting makeshift barricades ahead of what some fear may be a push by police to clear the roads before Chinese National Day.
Riot police shot pepper spray and tear gas at protesters at the weekend but withdrew yesterday to ease tension as the ranks of demonstrators swelled. Protesters spent the night sleeping or holding vigil unharassed on normally busy roads in the global financial hub.
Throughout the night, rumours rippled through crowds of protesters that police were preparing to move in again. As the sun rose many remained wary, especially on the eve of Wednesday's anniversary of the Communist Party's foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
“Many powerful people from the mainland will come to Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government won’t want them to see this, so the police must do something,” Sui-ying Cheng (18), a student at Hong Kong University’s School of Professional and Continuing Education, said of the National Day holiday.
“We are not scared. We will stay here tonight. Tonight is the most important,” she said.
The protesters, mostly students, are demanding full democracy and have called on the city’s leader, Leung Chun-ying, to step down after Beijing a month ago ruled out free elections for Hong Kong’s leader, known as the Chief Executive, in 2017.China rules Hong Kong under a “one country, two systems” formula that accords the former British colony a degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, with universal suffrage set as an eventual goal.
Protesters massed in at least four of Hong Kong’s busiest areas, including Admiralty, where Hong Kong’s government is headquartered, the Central business district, the bustling shopping district of Causeway Bay, and the densely populated Mong Kok district in Kowloon.
Organisers said as many as 80,000 people thronged the streets after the protests flared on Friday night but numbers appear to have dwindled slightly in some areas on Tuesday as some protesters went home to rest. No independent estimate of crowd numbers was available.
Alex Chow, the leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, said the protests represented more than what had begun as a gathering of students and the “Occupy Central” movement.
“It has evolved into a civil movement,” Chow said.
Protesters set up supply stations with water bottles, fruit, crackers, disposable raincoats, towels, goggles, face masks and tents, indicating they were in for the long haul.
Some lugged metal road barricades into positions on the edge of crowds, presumably to slow a police advance. In at least one location, several minivans and a truck were parked in rows in an apparent effort to block a road.In Mong Kok, the windows of an abandoned double-decker bus were papered with messages of support such as “Go Hong Kong People!”. A small group of protesters near the bus clapped and cheered while others played the guitar and drums.
“Even though I may get arrested, I will stay until the last minute,” said 16-year-old protester John Choi.
“We are fighting for our futures.”
Communist Party leaders worry that calls for democracy could spread to the mainland, and have been aggressively censoring news and social media comments about the Hong Kong demonstrations.
The demonstrations, labelled “illegal” by China’s Communist-run government in Beijing, are the worst in Hong Kong since China resumed its rule in 1997. They also represent one of the biggest political challenges for Beijing since it violently crushed pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
The movement presents Beijing’s Communist Party with a difficult challenge. Cracking down too hard could shake confidence in market-driven Hong Kong, which has a separate legal system from the rest of China. Not reacting firmly enough, however, could embolden dissidents on the mainland.
Financial fallout from the turmoil has been limited so far as investors gauge how severe Beijing’s response might be.
Reuters