After mob attacks, Hong Kong protesters' distrust of police deepens

Hong Kong (CNN) -- As the mass protests extended into the seventh day, the stalemate between pro-democracy demonstrators and the Hong Kong government appears no closer to a resolution.

Protest leaders refuse to negotiate with government officials after the largely peaceful demonstrations turned violent Friday. Opponents of the protests barreled into the protest area, encircled some of the demonstrators and tore down tents. Scuffles broke out between the two groups in the Mong Kok district, a tightly packed neighborhood of shops and residences that is one of the city's busiest intersections.

How to feed thousands of protesters Hong Kong police push through barricade Hong Kong protesters block ambulance Police raise hands against protesters as an ambulance tries to leave the compound of the chief executive office in Hong Kong on Friday, October 3. Hong Kong Chief Executive C.Y. Leung has resisted protesters' demands that he step down but has agreed for his second in command to meet with student leaders.Photos: Hong Kong pro-democracy protests

Of the 20 arrested after the skirmishes, eight had ties to a criminal gang, police said. They are suspected of crimes including fighting in public places, unlawful assembly and assault.

The attacks have strained relations as police accuse protesters of escalating the situation, and demonstrators say officers failed to protect them when they were assaulted.

Protester Edward Tsoi said that police stood by and failed to take action when some students were attacked and beaten, and when some were sexually assaulted.

'The government and the police have done nothing to stop them,' he told CNN.

Student leaders say they refuse to negotiate with the government until there is an explanation of police action and called for a mass rally on Saturday 8 p.m. in the main government district.

Joshua Wong, the 17-year-old leader of student group Scholarism, told CNN's Kristie Lu Stout that the Hong Kong government should 'pay responsibility of this accident.'

Meet the 17-year-old student agitating for change

Honk Kong Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cheung Tak-keung rejected the protesters' claims, saying the accusations were ' totally unfounded and extremely unfair to police officers who faithfully and diligently performed their duty at the scene.'

He said that police separated the two parties and set up a buffer area to prevent further injuries.

A dozen people were injured in the clashes in Mong Kok, including six officers. In the seven days of protest, 148 people have been injured.

Pro-democracy activists are protesting for universal suffrage in Hong Kong and the right to directly choose candidates for elected office -- rather than having China choose the eligible candidates. They've also called for the resignation of Hong Kong's chief executive, C.Y. Leung, whom the protesters view as a puppet of Beijing.

Counter-protester: 'It's anarchy'

The scene on Saturday had calmed down considerably in Mong Kok, as a couple hundred protesters remained at the scene. The protesters are employing a strategy to call other students over if they perceive a possible threat.

It remains unclear how long the protests can maintain support and continue to draw the numbers that have so far clogged main arteries of Hong Kong.

Throughout the day, small skirmishes continued with mainly older residents -- appearing in their 40s or 50s -- yelling at the youngsters sitting by the main tent in the Mong Kok protest area. One older man swore at the students, repeatedly cursing at them as 'kids causing trouble.'

Critics of the pro-democracy movement, called Occupy Central, say the weeklong demonstrations have hurt the economy and small businesses, and clogged traffic and daily operations of the city.

A few dozen people who oppose the protests peacefully walked to a police station Saturday morning with blue ribbons -- which signify solidarity with the officers.

Map: Where protests areMap: Where protests are Student protesters call on chief exec to go

'We need order. We know what they want. Why do they still stay?' said one of them, retired police officer Yan pak Yu. 'Go to the park. Go the playground. Don't obstruct the daily operations of Hong Kong.'

Another resident, Peter Bentley, a retiree added: 'It's anarchy. These are our streets. What I oppose is anarchy.'

Hong Kong protests: What's next?What do protesters want

Demonstrators are upset with a recently enacted policy giving Beijing veto power on who can run as a candidate for the chief executive role in the 2017 election.

A new electoral system will, for the first time, let the city's 5 million eligible voters pick a winner, rather than a 1,200-member committee stacked with Beijing loyalists that has chosen past leaders.

Critics argue that the right to vote is pointless if the candidates are handpicked by Beijing. They complain the Chinese government is encroaching too much on the affairs of Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese territory ruled according to the 'one country, two systems' policy since the 1997 handover from Britain.

Beijing condemns the protests as 'illegal acts' and in a Saturday editorial of People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, dismissed the movement as 'no more than a daydream.'

CNN's Wilfred Chan, Ivan Watson, Pamela Boykoff and Rebecca Wright contributed to this report in Hong Kong.

from Google News http://#

via IFTTT

Tweet