News Digest

Hong Kong protesters fight police to retake Mongkok camp, over 25 arrested

Pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong clashed violently with police Saturday as they reoccupied a protest camp mostly cleared the previous day, leading to multiple arrests and jeopardising government talks aimed at ending a political stalemate. Police charged protesters using raised umbrellas for protection against pepper spray and batons on a busy main road in the bustling Mongkok district, but were forced into a partial retreat as the sun began to rise, to cheers from the crowd. Activists rushed to rebuild makeshift barricades in an area police had opened to traffic 24 hours earlier, while thousands of others staged a sit-in at the protest camp that has existed for nearly three weeks, according to an AFP reporter at the scene. Hong Kong police said in a statement released early Saturday they had made 26 arrests in confrontations with a crowd that had swelled to 9,000 people by 3 am (1900 GMT), with 15 officers sustaining injuries in the commotion.

The police have lost control of the situation. They’ve lost their minds…We’ve come here peacefully, to peacefully protest for our future.

Protester Peter Yuen from behind the goggles he had donned to protect himself from pepper spray

On Thursday the government had made a dramatic U-turn and announced a resumption of talks with the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS). Protesters have held sit-ins at three major intersections causing significant disruption to a city usually known for its stability, and presenting Beijing with one of the most significant challenges to its authority since the 1989 Tiananmen protests.