HK student leaders held as cops clear protest site

FE Team | Published: November 27, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

HONG KONG, Nov 26 (agencies): Hong Kong police cleared activists from one of the largest protest sites in the city on Wednesday and arrested Joshua Wong and Lester Shum, two of the student leaders at the heart of the pro-democracy movement that has shaken the Asian financial hub.
Scuffles broke out when riot police moved against hundreds of protesters on Nathan Road, in the gritty Mong Kok district, following clashes overnight, Reuters witnesses said.
"You can't defeat the protesters' hearts!" screamed Liu Yuk-lin, a 52-year-old protester in a hard hat holding a yellow umbrella, the symbol of the movement, as she stood before lines of police in helmets and goggles.
But there was no serious violence, and after about three hours the operation was complete and traffic was flowing through as area where demonstrators had camped out since late September to call for greater democracy in the former British colony.
Mong Kok has been a flashpoint for clashes between students and mobs intent on breaking up the protests, which have posed one of the biggest challenges to China's Communist Party leaders since the crushing of student-led pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing in 1989.
Crowds nearby cheered and clapped as the final protesters were removed from the site on Wednesday.
Earlier, court-appointed bailiffs had warned protesters to leave and around 80 workers in red caps and "I love Hong Kong" T-shirts began clearing metal and wooden barricades laid across Nathan Road, where hundreds of tents had been erected in a two-month civil disobedience campaign.
They had been met by hundreds of protesters brandishing yellow banners and chanting for "full democracy".
Local broadcaster RTHK said more than 20 people were arrested. Many other protesters scattered, but a handful faced off briefly against dozens of police on a side street, determined to await supporters that they expected to join them in the evening after getting off school or work.
Mong Kok has been home to a more raucous group of protesters than at the two other sites around the city. Previous efforts to clear the area have backfired, sending more people into the streets to confront police.