Hong Kong police clear protestors from camp

Hundreds of Hong Kong police cleared a pro-democracy protest camp in the early hours of Friday while many protestors were asleep on the floor. 800 police officers stormed into one of the main protest zones in the Mong Kok district with plastic riot shields, helmets and batons.

Previous police clearances were marred by violence through tear gas and baton charges and a handcuffed protestor was violently beaten up by seven policemen on Wednesday.
However, no direct force was used in Friday’s clearance, witnesses said. Instead, police gave a short warning on loud hailers and many protestors retreated from the camps without resisting.

The protestors are calling for China’s Communist Party to give full democracy to Hong Kong which has been under Chinese rule since 1997. In August, Beijing offered Hong Kong citizens the chance to vote for their own leader in 2017 but that candidates could only run after getting approved by a 1200-person ‘nominating committee’ full of Beijing loyalists. The protestors have criticised this as a “fake” democracy and are demanding Beijing to make the polls more open. Leung said there is “zero chance” that Beijing will give in to protestors’ demands or that he will step down.

At the peak of the protests, 100,000 people had taken to the streets but these numbers have dwindled significantly since then.