Hong Kong: police drag activists away

Hundreds of Hong Kong police officers drove protesters from an underpass in the dead of night in the worst violence since the street demonstrations for greater democracy began more than two weeks ago. Officers, many with riot shields and wielding pepper spray, dragged away dozens of protesters, tore down barricades and removed concrete slabs the protesters used as road blocks around the underpass. Beijing issued its harshest condemnations yet of the protests on Wednesday, calling them illegal, bad for business and against Hong Kong's best interests. That appeared to reflect Beijing's increasing impatience over the demonstrations in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory, although there were no immediate signs that the central government was planning to become directly involved in suppressing them. A front-page editorial Wednesday in the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece, condemned the protests and said ‘they are doomed to fail,’ according to AP.