Hong Kong protests:
Student leaders postpone talks
4 Sep BBC
Leaders of a pro-democracy student group in Hong Kong have postponed
talks with the government after demonstrators got into scuffles with
opponents.
The group said the authorities were failing to protect
protesters.Police denied colluding with those who used violence against
the protesters, and said they had arrested members of the triad criminal
gangs. Activists are protesting at plans by China to vet election
candidates and have been occupying parts of the city.
Hong Kong's leader on Thursday offered talks to defuse the situation
after the protesters called for his resignation.But scuffles broke out
as people apparently angry with the disruption caused by the protests
tried to dismantle tents and barricades.The Hong Kong Federation of
Students, which was invited to negotiations with the government, said in
a statement it had “shelved” the talks. A time and place for the
negotiations had never been confirmed.
“The government allowed the mafia to attack peaceful Occupy
participants. It has cut off the path to a dialogue, and should be
responsible for the consequences,” it said.”
The government has not kept its promise. We have no choice but to
shelve the talks.” It was not clear whether the statement reflected the
position of other groups involved in the protest.Occupy Central leader
Benny Tai told the BBC they were still only considering a boycott of the
talks. However, he said police were not protecting the demonstrators
against attacks by their opponents and this situation could not
continue. “At this point it's very, very difficult to maintain any sense
of dialogue if the government does not stop these things happening to
peaceful protesters,” he said.
There was no immediate response from the government to the
postponement.But in a late-night news conference, reported by the South
China Morning Post newspaper, police gave their account of events.
They denied accusations by the protesters that they had acted in
concert with forces trying to break up the protest.They said 19 people
had been arrested, eight of whom had “triad backgrounds”, referring to
local criminal gangs.In the commercial district of Mong Kok, on the
Kowloon peninsula, opponents of the demonstrators had tried to dismantle
tents.
Police linked arms to try to separate the opposing groups.Later, more
pro-democracy activists flooded the area and by evening vastly
outnumbered their opponents, says the BBC's Martin Patience in Mong Kok.
They began chanting: “Go back to the mainland.” Many activists
suspect that these people are coordinated by the Hong Kong or Chinese
governments.But their very presence there is a reminder that not
everyone in Hong Kong is on the side of the protesters, our
correspondent says.
At least some of the protesters’ opponents appear to be local
residents angered by the disruption.”I don't support Occupy Central. We
have to work and make money. Occupy is just a game,” said a construction
worker who gave his name as Mr Lee, quoted news agency. “Give us Mong
Kok back, we Hong Kongers need to eat!” another said.Similar scuffles
took place in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island, where residents tried to
remove barricades put up by pro-democracy protesters.
The UK-based human rights group Amnesty International said that
during the clashes police “stood by”.”The authorities have failed in
their duty to protect peaceful protesters who came under attack,” the
group's Hong Kong director Mabel Au said.She added that there were
witness accounts of women being physically attacked in the two areas.
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