HK warns protesters not to return after clashes close govt HQ

HONG KONG, Dec 1 (agencies): Thousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists forced the temporary closure of government headquarters Monday after clashing with police, defying orders to retreat after more than two months of sustained protests in the Chinese-controlled city.
Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying said police had been tolerant but would now take "resolute action", suggesting that patience may have finally run out.
Chaos erupted as commuters made their way to work, with hundreds of student-led protesters surrounding Admiralty Centre, which houses offices and retail outlets, in a stand-off with police. The central government offices and the legislature were forced to close in the morning, as were scores of shops.
The latest flare-up, during which police charged protesters with batons and pepper spray, underscored the frustration of protesters at Beijing's refusal to budge on electoral reforms and grant greater democracy to the former British colony.
"Some people have mistaken the police's tolerance for weakness," Leung told reporters. "I call for students who are planning to return to the occupation sites tonight not to do so."
He did not respond when asked if police would clear the sites on Monday.
Hong Kong Federation of Students leader Alex Chow said the protesters had intended to paralyze government headquarters.
"The plan was a failure on the whole, given that even if some places were occupied, they were cleared by the police immediately," Chow said.
The democracy movement represents one of the biggest threats for China's Communist Party leadership since Beijing's bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy student protests in and around Tiananmen Square.
Financial Secretary John Tsang said the protests had damaged Hong Kong's international image and hurt investor confidence, adding the city's economic growth could be lower than the government's forecast of 2.2 percent. The territory also reported a slowdown in monthly retail sales.
Hundreds of riot police scattered the crowds in several rounds of heated clashes overnight, forcing protesters back with pepper spray and batons.
Scores of volunteer medics attended to numerous injured, some who lay unconscious and others with blood streaming from head gashes. Police said at least 40 arrests were made.
Meanwhile: Hong Kong police said Monday they had "no other choice" after unleashing pepper spray and baton charges at students who tried to storm government headquarters overnight, in some of the worst violence since the pro-democracy protests began.
With demonstrations now in their third month, tensions soared after police beat back demonstrators who had surged onto a main road outside the government complex shouting: "Surround the headquarters. Paralyse the government."
"In a situation where they had no other choice, police used a minimal amount of force including spraying water, pepper spray... and batons," senior superintendent Tsui Wai-hung said.
But protesters at the main Admiralty rally site Monday expressed their fury and despondency after a number were injured in the clashes.
"I feel angry but there's nothing we can do about it," said account clerk Justin Yan, 22.
"They are supposed to protect the citizens, not (hurt) us. We saw what they did, so we don't trust them any more."
Demonstrators now fear that police will try to clear Admiralty, where hundreds of tents block a multi-lane highway through the heart of the financial district.
But security minister Lai Tung-kwok said he would not "prematurely" reveal future government actions for the area.
He accused protesters of "systematically" charging the police cordon outside the government offices.
"Their actions go against peace and non-violence," he said.
Protesters have been staging mass sit-ins in Hong Kong since late September, demanding free leadership elections for the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
China's communist authorities insist candidates for the 2017 vote must be vetted by a loyalist committee, which the protesters say will ensure the election of a pro-Beijing stooge.
Tearful protesters were forced from the government site and roads were cleared for traffic before morning rush hour Monday, but government offices remained closed with the de facto parliament suspended Monday morning.
Emotions were running high, with clashes between police and protesters at a shopping arcade near the Admiralty site, with at least one person stretchered away, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
In chaotic scenes overnight, hundreds of protesters wearing helmets and wielding umbrellas spilled into a major road outside the office of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
Police said they had made 40 arrests overnight and 11 officers had been injured.