Fresh clashes broke out in Hong Kong on Fridaynight 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, which has been home to a protest camp for nearly three weeks, an AFP reporter on the scene saw. “We want to take back this spot because it's what we had,” said Gary Yip, a 17-year-old high school student.
It is the third consecutive night that violence has broken out after a fortnight of comparative calm — 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 of tens of thousands — calling for free elections 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 authority 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 “fake democracy”.