Reuters, Hong Kong :
Violent scuffles broke out in one of Hong Kong’s most famous and congested shopping districts on Friday, as hundreds of supporters of Chinese rule stormed tents and ripped down banners belonging to pro-democracy protesters, forcing many to retreat.
Tens of thousands have taken to Hong Kong’s streets in the past week to demand full democracy in the former British colony, including a free voting system when they come to choose a new leader in 2017.
Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying agreed to open talks with pro-democracy protesters but refused to stand down. He and his Chinese government backers made clear that they would not back down in the face of the city’s worst unrest in decades.
And Financial Secretary John Tsang warned that sustained protests in the city’s Central financial centre could create “permanent” damage to the Asian financial hub.
Numbers dwindled at some protest sites in and around Central as rain fell on Friday and as Hong Kong people returned to work after a two-day holiday.
But in the gritty, bustling district of Mong Kok, considered one of the most crowded places on earth with its high-rise apartment blocks packed close together over neon lights, bars, restaurants and open-air markets, about 1,000 Beijing supporters clashed with about 100 protesters, spitting and throwing water bottles.
Police formed a human chain to separate the two groups amid the wail of sirens.
Some demonstrators held umbrellas for police in the rain while Beijing supporters shouted at police for failing to clear the demonstrators.
“We are all fed up and our lives are affected,” said teacher Victor Ma, 42. “You don’t hold Hong Kong citizens hostage because it’s not going to work. That’s why the crowd is very angry here.”
Mong Kok is popular with tourists from the mainland but not as well known to Western tourists as the luxury shopping area of Causeway Bay, where pedestrians were trying to remove protest barricades put up by Occupy Central protesters.
Leung refused to bow to an ultimatum from protesters to resign. Police have warned repeatedly of serious consequences if protesters try to block off or occupy government buildings in and around Central. Leung told reporters just minutes before the ultimatum expired at midnight on Thursday that Chief Secretary Carrie Lam would meet students soon to discuss political reforms, but gave no timeframe.
The protests have ebbed and flowed since Sunday when police used pepper spray, tear gas and baton charges to break up the demonstrations, which are the biggest since the former British colony was handed back to Chinese rule in 1997.
China rules Hong Kong through a “one country, two systems” formula underpinned by the Basic Law, which accords Hong Kong some autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland and has universal suffrage as an eventual goal.
But Beijing decreed on Aug. 31 it would vet candidates who want to run for chief executive at an election in 2017, angering democracy activists who took to the streets.
While Leung made an apparent concession by offering talks, Beijing restated its resolute opposition to the protests and a completely free vote in Hong Kong.
“For a few consecutive days, some people have been making trouble in Hong Kong, stirring up illegal assemblies in the name of seeking ‘real universal suffrage’,” China’s official People’s Daily said in a front-page commentary.
