Hong Kong protesters clash with police as they approach government headquarters

Updated

Hundreds of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters have clashed with police in a fresh escalation of tensions, as officers fired pepper spray at angry students trying to surround the government headquarters.

In chaotic scenes, protesters wearing helmets and wielding umbrellas attempted to breach the police cordon guarding the office of chief executive Leung Chun-ying during a rally at the main Admiralty protest site.

"I want true democracy," protesters yelled at police who used loudspeakers to order them to disperse.

"Surround the headquarters. Paralyse the government."

The protests are happening next to the city's central business district and some of the world's most expensive real estate.

Police used pepper spray to disperse the protesters, dragging two to the ground before arresting and cuffing them.

Scores of demonstrators held up umbrellas, which have become a symbol of the pro-democracy movement, to protect themselves from pepper spray.

Apart from those on the front lines, several thousand people filled Tamar Park near the legislative complex.

Overall numbers have dwindled since the mass protests started two months ago, calling for free leadership elections in 2017 in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

Protesters have become increasingly frustrated as China refuses to budge on its electoral plans for the city, and public support wanes for the occupation of major roads in different locations.

Organisers called Sunday's rally after police last week cleared one of the protest sites in the Mong Kok district, making more than 100 arrests.

Protesters Sunday stormed past police lines to occupy Lung Wo Road, a main traffic artery connecting the east and west of Hong Kong Island.

China says candidates for the 2017 election must be vetted by a loyalist committee, which demonstrators say will result in the election of a pro-Beijing stooge.

But protesters have also expressed anger over the government's perceived cosy relationship with Hong Kong's powerful tycoons.

Mr Leung admitted on Saturday that frustration among young people over a lack of "upward mobility" was fuelling the protests.

His comments to a government committee meeting on poverty came weeks after he shocked ordinary Hong Kong citizens by saying open elections were not feasible because they would result in the poor dominating politics.

The city's leader is currently selected by a 1,200-strong pro-Beijing committee stacked with elites from different business sectors.

China refuses to let British politicians visit Hong Kong

Meanwhile, a delegation of British MPs will be denied entry to Hong Kong as part of an inquiry into Britain's relations with its former colony, the head of a UK parliamentary committee said.

"I have been informed by the Chinese embassy that if we attempt to travel to Hong Kong we will be refused entry," foreign affairs select committee chairman Richard Ottaway said in a statement.

"We are a committee of elected members of parliament from a democratic nation who wish to scrutinise British diplomatic work in Hong Kong.

"The Chinese government are acting in an overtly confrontational manner in refusing us access to do our job."

The committee is looking at Britain's relations with Hong Kong 30 years after it agreed terms for handing the city over to China and at how those terms are being implemented.

The Chinese embassy in London could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mr Ottaway called for an emergency debate in Britain's parliament to discuss the matter.

Earlier this year, China asked parliament to shelve the inquiry, saying it would not allow foreign forces to intervene in its internal affairs.

AFP/Reuters

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, government-and-politics, hong-kong, asia

First posted