This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Riot police in Hong Kong are moving in to arrest the remaining 50 students who occupied the premises of government headquarters to protest China’s refusal to allow genuine democratic reforms in the semi-autonomous region.

About 100 others are continuing to shout slogans outside the complex.

Riot police using pepper spray cleared out more than 100 demonstrators early on Saturday, dragging many away and arresting 13, in the tensest scenes yet in a recent series of protests.



Student groups have been spearheading a civil disobedience campaign this week in response to Beijing’s announcement last month that it would choose who can stand for Hong Kong’s top post of chief executive in elections in 2017.

Several people, including one police officer, were taken away on stretchers by medical personnel after about 150 students forced their way into government headquarters late on Friday night, some scaling a tall fence. Police responded with pepper spray to push them back.



Police said 12 men and a woman, aged 16 to 35, were arrested Friday night and Saturday morning, and at least 28 protesters and officers have been injured.

Protesters who remained in the complex on Saturday morning hoisted a sign saying “Hope lies with the people, change starts with resistance,” written in black letters on white cloth.

“This is an amazing turning point. Hong Kongers usually just lay there and do nothing. This time, we’re really making an impact,” said Suki Wong, a recent graduate who works as an accountant.

Student groups have been spearheading a civil disobedience campaign with democracy activists this week to protest against Beijing’s announcement last month that it would choose who can stand for Hong Kong’s top post of chief executive in elections in 2017.



Demonstrators pushed into the grounds of the complex late on Friday, police said. Some scaled a high fence as others outside yelled, “Open the gates.”

One protester, Wong Kai-keung, said, “We don’t care if we get hurt; we don’t care if we get arrested. What we care about is getting real democracy.”

Police repeatedly used pepper spray against the protesters who used umbrellas, surgical masks and goggles to protect themselves.

About 50 demonstrators were still in the complex early on Saturday. They were surrounded by riot police who had forcibly removed most of the others.

About 1,000 protesters had joined the demonstration outside the Southern Chinese city’s main government complex through the night.

Numbers had earlier hit more than 2,000 as secondary school pupils, some wearing uniforms, joined university students.

Police said they had arrested six people aged between 16 and 29. News footage showed officers taking away a prominent student leader, Joshua Wong.

In a statement, the government “expressed regret” that protesters had stormed the complex, saying security personnel, police officers and protesters had been injured, but no details were given.

On Friday teenage pupils had marched on the government headquarters to add to a class boycott kicked off by university students on Monday.

On Thursday night, more than 2,000 people took their protest to the home of Hong Kong’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, hoping to speak to him. Leung has so far refused to speak to the students or meet their leaders.

On Friday pupils as young as 13 joined the protest, shouting, “I want real elections, not fake ones.”

Chung Chun-wai, 17, said many of his friends had defied their parents by joining the protest.

“I think secondary school students are a part of society and I consider myself a citizen of Hong Kong,” he said. “That’s why I think I need to bear the responsibility to care about society and to voice the real opinions of Hong Kongers.”

Meanwhile about 300 people, mostly elderly retirees originally from mainland China, staged a counter-protest close to the site to support Beijing’s decision.

Occupy Central, a prominent grassroots pro-democracy group, has vowed to take over the city’s central financial district to push its demand that Hong Kongers be allowed to nominate who can stand for leader.

The group’s co-founder, Benny Tai, has hinted the takeover could begin on 1 October, a national holiday when much of the district will be empty.

He told reporters on Friday, “After next week’s action we may not be able to change the standing committee’s decision immediately, but if we could have that very strong determination shown, I personally have the confidence that one day democracy will come to Hong Kong.”

Last month China said Hong Kongers would be allowed to vote for their leader for the first time in 2017, but that only two or three candidates approved by a pro-Beijing committee could stand.

Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” agreement that allows it civil liberties not seen on the mainland, including free speech and the right to protest.