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Hong Kong protesters regroup

October 5, 2014

Members of several protest groups appear to be divided over leaving key sites of this week's pro-democracy demonstrations. Hong Kong's leader has threatened them with police action if they don't stand down by Monday.

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Protesters in Hong Kong
Image: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

As the eighth day of mass pro-democracy rallies drew to a close in Hong Kong late on Sunday, large groups of demonstrators were reported to be clearing key protest sites outside of government headquarters and across the harbor in the working-class district of Mong Kok.

It was not immediately clear if Occupy Central and the student protesters - the two main organizers of the demonstrations - planned to withdraw completely by the Monday ultimatum.

According to Occupy Central's Twitter account, protesters were returning to the government headquarters "despite earlier announcement some were leaving."

Both Reuters and AFP new agencies wrote that some protest leaders were urging participants to regroup in the Admiralty district, which lies in the central business area and has been the site of the largest demonstrations.

Late on Saturday evening, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying warned demonstrators that they must clear their barricades and allow daily life to return to normal by Monday morning. If they didn't the government would "take all necessary actions to restore social order," he said.

Extent of crackdown unclear

Despite the threat of further police action into Monday morning, some protesters remained, refusing to back down.

"We've been pepper-sprayed. We've been tear-gassed. We've seen triads. Now we're not afraid of anything," a participant in Mong Kok named Kit Lee told Reuters news agency.

Demonstrations had remained largely peaceful until the start of the weekend, when opponents from local gangs, known as "triads," clashed with protesters. Unrest also broke out on Saturday and early Sunday, when police used pepper spray against civilians, alleging that verbal abuse had provoked the use of force.

The police action prompted student leaders to shelve negotiations with the Hong Kong government.

While the government had demanded protesters halt any interference with businesses and schools operating normally on Monday, it was not immediately clear whether police would allow some demonstrations to continue.

"There should not be any unreasonable, unnecessary obstruction by any members of the public," police spokesman Steve Hui told the Associated Press news agency. "We have to make correct assessments, then depending on the prevailing situation, we will consider all necessary measures."

Beijing 'most powerful' democracy supporter

China's state-run People's Daily weighed in on the continued protests on Sunday, saying pro-democracy supporters were misdirected.

"This is not a struggle between democracy and non-democracy, but merely different understandings on the realization and implementation methods of democracy. In the final analysis, the central government is the most powerful supporter of democracy in Hong Kong," the pro-Beijing daily wrote in an op-ed.

China has refused to answer the movement's demands that it reverse a decision it made last month, which gives a 1,200-person committee the task of nominating candidates for chief executive in Hong Kong's 2017 elections.

Many residents in the semi-autonomous region have decried the law, saying it reverses a promise that their leader would be chosen by universal suffrage in the polls, which are the first since Britain handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997.

They have vowed to continue protests until Beijing changes the law and current Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying resigns.

kms/nm (AP, AFP, Reuters)