HK talks set to start on Tuesday
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, October 19, 2014
The Hong Kong government will open talks with student protesters on Tuesday, a top official said yesterday, just hours after 33 people were arrested and 18 police officers were injured during the latest clashes between the two sides.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said on Thursday he was ready to resume talks with the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the groups leading the protest, after previously canceling scheduled discussions.
"Right now we are planning for it to take place on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 21," Chief Secretary Carrie Lam, who is Leung’s deputy, said yesterday, adding that the talks will focus on constitutional reform.
There was no immediate response from the protesters, who have held sit-ins at three major intersections causing significant disruption to a city usually known for its stability.
Violent clashes took place late Friday night and early yesterday morning on a normally busy road in Mong Kok.
Police said 33 people were arrested and at least 18 officers were injured as thousands of protesters pressed to retake the area.
Hong Kong’s police chief yesterday condemned the Occupy protesters for undermining the rule of law after they regained a protest area that had been previously cleared by police.
Officers took protesters by surprise before dawn on Friday and succeeded in pulling down tents and barricades that had been blocking main roads for almost three weeks.
But the main thoroughfare, Nathan Road, was later reoccupied by the protesters.
Commenting on the Occupy protests for the first time in public, Hong Kong Police Commissioner Andy Tsang said: "Police strongly condemn those who participated in the unlawful assembly, charged a police cordon and illegally occupied major thoroughfares in Mong Kok earlier this morning and last night."
Mong Kok is an offshoot protest site across Victoria Harbor from the main demonstration area in Admiralty, where the city government has its headquarters.
Tsang said the protesters had undermined public order and jeopardized public safety.
"These acts are undermining the rule of law, undermining what Hong Kong always relies upon to succeed," he said.
The police have been extremely tolerant of the demonstrators over the past two to three weeks, he said.
Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok joined in condemning the latest violent clashes in Mong Kok, claiming they were initiated by radical activists.
The acts were illegal and have undermined the public order, he said, urging all of the protesters to leave the area.
Despite the call, the number of protesters in Mong Kok grew yesterday afternoon.
Local media reported that shop owners were worried about losing business as the protesters regrouped, though local residents said they were not in favor of the police action and were pinning their hopes on next week’s talks between the students and the government.
Lam said that the talks will be attended by five representatives from each side.
As well as herself, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen and Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Raymond Tam will be on the government side for the talks, Lam said.
She said Hong Kong’s constitutional development must comply with the National People’s Congress Standing Committee’s decision, and on that basis she is willing to listen to the students.
She denounced those who committed acts of violence in Mong Kok on Friday, saying their actions were a premeditated attempt to block the roads.
Jasper Tsang, president of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, said the clashes should not be allowed to affect Tuesday’s talks, adding that he hoped understanding and trust could be built between the two sides through communication. Thousands of protesters, most of them students, joined the Occupy Central movement to express their discontent with the framework set by the NPCSC on electing the region’s next leader through universal suffrage.
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