Clashes break out at Hong Kong protests

Government says all roads will be cleared by Monday as one protest group says it is ready to hold talks with officials. Fresh clashes have broken out at Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests, with riot police using batons and pepper spray to fight back demonstrators. As the protest movement entered its seventh night, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents gathered for a peace rally in the commercial Admiralty district near the government headquarters chanting "Peace! Anti-violence!" and singing democracy anthems. But across the harbour in the city's Mong Kok district, tensions flared anew early on Sunday as crowds of protesters surrounded police, accusing them of cooperating with gangsters, according to AFP reporters at the scene. Police responded with pepper spray. For their part, student leaders said on Sunday that they would meet the government if certain conditions were met, having cancelled planned negotiations the previous day over anger at police actions in earlier clashes. In a speech broadcast earlier on television, Leung Chun-ying, Hong Kong's chief executive, said he was determined to clear the streets of protesters by Monday when the city returns to work. "The government and the police have the duty and determination to take all necessary actions to restore social order so that the government and some seven million people of Hong Kong can return to their normal work and life," he said. Rumours of action Al Jazeera's Divya Gopalan, reporting from Admiralty on Saturday, said student leaders emphasised the need for the protests to be peaceful and "not give the government any reason to break it up". She said there were rumours circulating that the government would take action soon and there have been calls for people to go back to work and their normal duties. Protesters have taken to Hong Kong's streets all week to demand the right to nominate who can run as their next leader in 2017 elections. China insists only candidates it has approved will be able to stand. In Mong Kok, a working-class district of shops and residences that was also the site of ugly scenes on Friday, angry protesters claimed anti-democracy agitators from the city's Triad mobs were being arrested, only to be released back into the crowds again. Hong Kong's main student union, HKFS, said in a statement: "The government should investigate why the police were so lax in enforcement, accusations of helping criminals and to give an explanation to the public as soon as possible." It came after two of the city's busiest shopping districts descended into chaos on Friday as opponents, some of them waving Chinese flags, clashed with protesters, tearing down their tents and barricades. The incidents led to accusations that the police failed to protect the demonstrators from the opposing crowds and speculation authorities had hired paid thugs to break up the protests. "As long as the government responds to the above, the students are willing to talk again," the HKFS said. Police said several suspected Triad members were among 19 people arrested after Friday's clashes, but the city's security chief denied allegations that the government had called on hired criminals. "These accusations are made up and are very excessive," Lai Tung-kwok, Hong Kong's secretary for security, said. Triad gangs have traditionally been involved in drug-running, prostitution and extortion but are increasingly in legitimate ventures such as property and the finance industry. Some are believed to also have links with the political establishment and there have previously been allegations of Triads sending paid thugs to stir up trouble during protests. Fears of intimidation China has accused democracy campaigners of destabilising the regional financial hub. The People's Daily newspaper, a Communist Party mouthpiece, said in an editorial on Saturday that the protesters were "day-dreaming" over the prospect of change. Small rallies by crowds sporting blue ribbons were held by people who said they supported the police and the government, in a growing sign of a backlash against a campaign that has taken a heavy toll on local businesses. Fears of intimidation have replaced the festive sense of unity that had prevailed for days. There were widespread reports of sexual assault in the packed crowds. An AFP reporter in Mong Kok heard a female counter-demonstrator tell pro-democracy crowds through a loudspeaker: "Women are supposed to be touched by men." She spoke in Cantonese with a mainland accent.