A battle for the streets: clashes between Occupy activists and opponents intensify
Hundreds of Occupy Central opponents converged on Admiralty at yesterday in what appeared to be a well-orchestrated operation to remove barriers that had paralysed traffic for over two weeks.
Hundreds of Occupy Central opponents converged on Admiralty at around lunchtime yesterday in what appeared to be a well-orchestrated and carefully timed operation to remove road barriers that had paralysed traffic for more than two weeks.
Tense confrontations and scuffles with Occupy protesters ensued, and at least 22 people were arrested.
The chaotic scenes were the first to break out at the Admiralty protest site since police backed down after using tear gas to clear the sit-in on September 28.
A police source said initial investigations indicated the activists were from the transport industry and included taxi and minibus drivers.
Eddie Ng Yip-pui, director of the Taxi Drivers and Operators Association, admitted the association had mobilised about 200 taxi drivers and their relatives to disturb the Admiralty sit-in.
Ng said they wanted to express their grievances about business losses caused by the occupation. He denied they were paid, contrary to a media report that accused the cabbies of receiving HK$2,000 each to protest.
"Who can afford to offer HK$2,000 [each] to taxi drivers? A hundred drivers would cost HK$200,000," he said.
Protesters were caught off guard when about 50 men in black, mostly wearing masks, appeared at the occupied Queensway at about 1.30pm.
As they walked towards Central, the group used cable cutters to slice the plastic cords that bound together barriers at the junction of Queensway and Cotton Tree Drive.
Minor scuffles broke out, followed by heated arguments between the opposing sides. Police stepped in to separate them.
Occupy protesters complained about police inaction, with one shouting at the officers: "Arrest them! Don't just stand and watch."
Anti-Occupy reinforcements then arrived. A fleet of more than 10 taxis pulled over at the same junction, bearing placards that read "broken rice bowl" and "can't tolerate any more".
As the cabbies pressed their horns, another group, made up of mostly middle-aged men, stormed into the junction and confronted the police.
The anti-Occupy numbers soon swelled to more than 200, many carrying banners that said "supporting the police to enforce the law".
Shouts of "Occupy Central is illegal" and "open the roads" filled the air. Occupy protesters responded by chanting "arrest triad members", in reference to media reports that gangsters had been recruited to cause disarray.
Amid the pushing and shoving, at least two men were taken away in handcuffs.
The commotion subsided half an hour later, when anti-Occupy activists started leaving Admiralty on foot, followed by the taxis.
The timing of the incident spawned a conspiracy theory - that it was orchestrated by the Beijing-loyalist camp with the blessing of the government.
It had been preceded by police action at 5.30am, when officers descended unexpectedly on protest sites in Mong Kok and Central and began removing road barriers.
But the operation in Mong Kok Road was largely fruitless. Officers found themselves quickly surrounded by protesters, some of whom shouted abuse.
Chants of "go away" echoed through the canyons of concrete blocks along the road, where only one of five lanes remained opened to traffic.
Protesters rebuilt the barriers soon after the police left.
In Central, the clearance of barriers went smoother and officers managed to remove the obstacles near City Hall.
At around noon, the government issued a statement urging the protesters to end their illegal occupation. Then at about 1.15pm, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who was visiting Guangzhou, told a media briefing that the sit-ins could not be allowed to go on forever. "The government aims to clear the road barriers as soon as is practicable, on the condition that it will not create conflicts with [Occupy] protesters," Leung said.
Those words were followed shortly by the massing of anti-Occupy activists in Admiralty.
Alan Yu, Kathy Gao, Clifford Lo, Jeffie Lam, Raquel Carvalho, Samuel Chan, Timmy Sung, Ng Kang-chung and Ernest Kao
Police start removing road barriers set up by Occupy protesters in Central and Mong Kok.
Some road barriers on Queen's Road Central outside Cheung Kong Center are taken away. Police officers armed with shields stand guard outside City Hall as crowds start building.
Road barriers at the junction of Shanghai and Argyle streets in Kowloon are removed.
Road barriers on Harcourt Road are removed.
Road barriers on Connaught Road Central are removed.
Scholarism warns that the police action will make way for large-scale clearance. The group calls on protesters to stay put.
Secretary for the Civil Service Paul Tang Kwok-wai and Secretary for Transport and Housing Anthony Cheung Bing-leung fail to reach their offices at government headquarters in Admiralty after protesters bar their cars from entering.
The government, in a statement, rejects protesters' demands for opening the East Wing forecourt of the government headquarters complex in Admiralty to stage rallies.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying tells reporters in Guangzhou - where he's travelling - that the occupation cannot be allowed to go on forever, and that the government aims to clear the road barriers as soon as it is practicable.
Dozens of people assemble outside Queensway Government Offices building in Admiralty. Some try to remove road barriers at the junction of Cotton Tree Drive and Queensway. Anti-Occupy representatives from the New Territories Association of Societies stage a rally outside the government headquarters complex in Admiralty. About 20 taxis assemble at the Star Ferry pier in Central before starting a slow-drive in protest against Occupy Central.
Minor scuffles break out near the Lippo Centre in Admiralty and police intervene. Drivers from the Taxi Drivers and Operators Association join the anti-Occupy protest.
Occupy protesters in Admiralty ignore police advice and stay, confronting their opponents near the Lippo Centre.
About 20 taxis block a section of Queensway near Hennessy Road in an action against Occupy protesters.
On police advice, anti-Occupy protesters leave Admiralty.
Protesting taxi drivers leave Admiralty. Protesters try to rebuild barriers in Queensway near Bank of China Tower.
Police say they will remove obstacles at Queensway in Admiralty and Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay soon, but there is no plan to clear protesters.
