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Police use tear gas on Hong Kong protesters
(MENAFN- Arab News) HONG KONG: Hong Kong police used tear gas Sunday and warned of further measures as they tried to clear thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered at government headquarters in a challenge to Beijing over its decision to restrict democratic reforms for the semiautonomous city.
After spending hours holding the protesters at bay police lobbed canisters of tear gas into the crowd on Sunday evening. The searing fumes sent demonstrators fleeing down the road but many came right back to continue their protest.
The protesters were trying to join a sit-in outside government headquarters calling for Beijing to grant genuine democratic reforms to the former British colony. The sit-in however became overshadowed by running confrontations on the surrounding streets between police and those who were blocked from entering the protest zone.
Students and activists have been camped out since late Friday on the streets outside the government complex located just a few blocks from Hong Kong's downtown financial district. Students started the rally but leaders of the broader Occupy Central civil disobedience movement said early Sunday that they were joining them to kick-start a long-threatened mass sit-in to demand that an election for Hong Kong's leader be held without Beijing's interference.
Police used the tear gas after the protest spiraled into an extraordinary scene of chaos.
'It was very cruel for the police to use such harsh violence on protesters who had been completely peaceful' said one of the demonstrators Cecily Lui a 30-year-old clerk.After using the tear gas police issued a statement urging the protesters to 'leave peacefully and orderly.'
The demonstrations which Beijing called 'illegal' were a rare scene of disorder in the Asian financial hub and highlighted authorities' inability to rein in the public discontent over Beijing's tightening grip on the city. The protesters reject Beijing's decision last month to rule out open nominations for candidates under proposed guidelines for the first-ever elections for Hong Kong's leader promised for 2017.
After spending hours holding the protesters at bay police lobbed canisters of tear gas into the crowd on Sunday evening. The searing fumes sent demonstrators fleeing down the road but many came right back to continue their protest.
The protesters were trying to join a sit-in outside government headquarters calling for Beijing to grant genuine democratic reforms to the former British colony. The sit-in however became overshadowed by running confrontations on the surrounding streets between police and those who were blocked from entering the protest zone.
Students and activists have been camped out since late Friday on the streets outside the government complex located just a few blocks from Hong Kong's downtown financial district. Students started the rally but leaders of the broader Occupy Central civil disobedience movement said early Sunday that they were joining them to kick-start a long-threatened mass sit-in to demand that an election for Hong Kong's leader be held without Beijing's interference.
Police used the tear gas after the protest spiraled into an extraordinary scene of chaos.
'It was very cruel for the police to use such harsh violence on protesters who had been completely peaceful' said one of the demonstrators Cecily Lui a 30-year-old clerk.After using the tear gas police issued a statement urging the protesters to 'leave peacefully and orderly.'
The demonstrations which Beijing called 'illegal' were a rare scene of disorder in the Asian financial hub and highlighted authorities' inability to rein in the public discontent over Beijing's tightening grip on the city. The protesters reject Beijing's decision last month to rule out open nominations for candidates under proposed guidelines for the first-ever elections for Hong Kong's leader promised for 2017.
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