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Monday, 29 September 2014
Hong Kong protesters remain on streets
Huge crowds of pro-democracy protesters defy
government calls to go home, bringing city's key
districts to a standstill.
Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters
have turned parts of Hong Kong into a massive
street party on Monday night, with the mood
turning festive just a day after riot police fired
tear gas in ugly clashes.
The huge crowds defied government calls to go
home after Sunday's chaotic scenes, bringing key
districts of the Asian financial hub to a standstill
as they vowed to stay put until the Chinese
government grants them free elections.
Sunday's violence saw riot police fire clouds of
tear gas as they struggled to control the
protesters, in one of the biggest ever challenges
to Beijing's rule of the semi-autonomous city.
The anger gave way to a lighter atmosphere on
Monday night as riot police retreated, leaving
huge masses of protesters in control of at least
four major thoroughfares around the city.
Although there were few police on the scene,
some protesters feared a repeat of Sunday's
clashes, donning goggles and masks to protect
themselves against tear gas.
The demonstrators are furious over last month's
announcement by Beijing that while it will allow
the city's next leader to be elected in 2017, it will
insist on picking the candidates, with critics
branding the move a "fake democracy".
Public anger over rampant inequality is also at its
highest in years in a city once renowned for its
stability.
'Umbrella revolution'
Cantonese pop music filled the air during the
second day of what some are dubbing the
"umbrella revolution", as protesters have been
using the canopies as shields against tear gas and
the scorching sun alike.
One British sympathiser won huge cheers as he
set up a barbecue and began handing out
hamburgers and sausages to the protesters.
"I saw everybody was just standing around and
just eating bread and bananas and I thought,
'These guys have been here for 24 hours now,
and everybody needs cooked food'," Daniel
Shepherd, a finance broker by day, told AFP news
agency.
"Firing tear gas at students that are unarmed, I
think, seems a bit excessive," added the 32-year-
old.
The crowds hoisted up a makeshift copy of the
"goddess of democracy" statue that graced the
1989 protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square,
while lamp posts were adorned with yellow
ribbons - which, like the umbrella, have become a
symbol of the movement.
But many Hong Kongers expressed frustration at
the huge disruption the protests have caused,
with the crowds blocking key junctions in the busy
Causeway Bay and Mongkok shopping districts as
well as the biggest protest site in Admiralty.
There was chaos on the transport network,
shuttering many businesses, with schools in two
central districts set to close for a second day on
Tuesday.
Some social workers and teachers also went on
strike after the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade
Unions (HKCTU) and the Professional Teachers'
Union (PTU) called for members to take action,
the South China Morning Post reported.
Political headache for China
Analysts said the protests put the Chinese
government in an extremely difficult position.
Communist authorities are worried that dealing
with the protests too softly could encourage
wider protests for greater freedoms on the
mainland.
But a heavy-handed response could spark an
international outcry.
"It has the potential to be such a major crisis,"
said Christopher Hughes, a China expert at the
London School of Economics.
He warned that Hong Kong could see a repeat of
China's violent crackdown on the Tiananmen
Square protests.
"If they did decide to send in the tanks, who could
stop them?" he asked.
"They did it in 1989 and got away with it and
they're a lot more powerful now. There would be
some negative impact, some business confidence,
but how long will that last?"
The United States urged Hong Kong's leaders to
"exercise restraint". Former colonial power Britain
also expressed concern, calling for "constructive"
talks to end the standoff.
Beijing moved swiftly to wipe mentions of the
protests from Chinese social media - blocking
photo-sharing service Instagram altogether - and
reiterated its hardline stance, opposing the
demonstrators' "illegal" actions.
Al Jazeera's Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing,
confirmed the outage saying "many photos from
the protests were being posted on the app, and it
seems that China wants to starve this story of
oxygen".
He added that other blogs that mention the
words "occupy" and "central" were also having
problems
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