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20140701 : Occupy Central
Police say they arrested more than 500 protesters in their operation on Wednesday morning to clear a sit-in on Chater Road in Central, after the end of the July 1st mass democracy rally.
The protesters, including members of the Federation of Students and Civic Passion, had linked arms while sitting on the road and had vowed to stay until 8am.
Their action was seen as a taste of what might happen later this year if the Occupy Central civil disobedience campaign goes ahead.
Police had earlier warned those taking part in the sit-in that they risked detention and prosecution. In the end 511 were arrested.
Officers began to move in just after 3am, and loaded the protesters on to coaches.
Some went willingly but those who remained were told that the police would use "necessary force" unless they boarded "designated vehicles".
Groups of officers then began to cordon off and physically carry demonstrators from the site.
A police tannoy said that all those remaining were under arrest for causing "obstruction and danger to road users" and for "unauthorised assembly".
The last of the protesters were removed about 8:30am with Chater Road reopening to traffic at 9am.
The confrontation involving up to 1,000 demonstrators followed a largely peaceful rally Tuesday which organisers said attracted a record crowd and the largest since Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997.
The march organisers said 510,000 people took part in the democracy rally, but police estimated that 98,600 people participated.
The University of Hong Kong's Public Opinion Programme put the number of demonstrators at between 154,000 and 172,000.
The march, which began at 3pm in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, did not finish in Central until eight hours later.
The Convenor of the Alliance for True Democracy, Joseph Cheng, said he hoped the turnout would send a strong message to the government that people want a greater say in choosing the chief executive, and could lead to a softening of the stance from Beijing.
Democratic Party lawmaker James To, who is also the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council's Panel on Security, said the demonstrators who were arrested by the police were not being allowed to meet their lawyers.
The leader of the Civic Party, legislator Alan Leong, said the police were wrong to make the arrests because the protesters had announced in advance that they had decided to end their action.
In Beijing, a Deputy Finance Minister, Wang Bao'an, said on Wednesday that it was inevitable that if the Occupy Central disobedience protest goes ahead later this year, it will have a negative impact on Hong Kong's economic development and social stability.
He said there were other channels for the public to express their views.
RTHK News
20140701 : Occupy Central
Police say they arrested more than 500 protesters in their operation on Wednesday morning to clear a sit-in on Chater Road in Central, after the end of the July 1st mass democracy rally.
The protesters, including members of the Federation of Students and Civic Passion, had linked arms while sitting on the road and had vowed to stay until 8am.
Their action was seen as a taste of what might happen later this year if the Occupy Central civil disobedience campaign goes ahead.
Police had earlier warned those taking part in the sit-in that they risked detention and prosecution. In the end 511 were arrested.
Officers began to move in just after 3am, and loaded the protesters on to coaches.
Some went willingly but those who remained were told that the police would use "necessary force" unless they boarded "designated vehicles".
Groups of officers then began to cordon off and physically carry demonstrators from the site.
A police tannoy said that all those remaining were under arrest for causing "obstruction and danger to road users" and for "unauthorised assembly".
The last of the protesters were removed about 8:30am with Chater Road reopening to traffic at 9am.
The confrontation involving up to 1,000 demonstrators followed a largely peaceful rally Tuesday which organisers said attracted a record crowd and the largest since Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997.
The march organisers said 510,000 people took part in the democracy rally, but police estimated that 98,600 people participated.
The University of Hong Kong's Public Opinion Programme put the number of demonstrators at between 154,000 and 172,000.
The march, which began at 3pm in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, did not finish in Central until eight hours later.
The Convenor of the Alliance for True Democracy, Joseph Cheng, said he hoped the turnout would send a strong message to the government that people want a greater say in choosing the chief executive, and could lead to a softening of the stance from Beijing.
Democratic Party lawmaker James To, who is also the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council's Panel on Security, said the demonstrators who were arrested by the police were not being allowed to meet their lawyers.
The leader of the Civic Party, legislator Alan Leong, said the police were wrong to make the arrests because the protesters had announced in advance that they had decided to end their action.
In Beijing, a Deputy Finance Minister, Wang Bao'an, said on Wednesday that it was inevitable that if the Occupy Central disobedience protest goes ahead later this year, it will have a negative impact on Hong Kong's economic development and social stability.
He said there were other channels for the public to express their views.
RTHK News