News Digest

Hong Kong protestors set for talks despite weekend clashes

Hong Kong protest leaders and government officials pledged to move ahead with talks aimed at ending more than three weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations, even after a weekend of violent clashes that injured dozens. Talks between the two sides are set to begin on Tuesday afternoon and will go ahead amid rising tensions in the streets. The clashes this weekend were concentrated in Mong Kok, one of the three sites occupied by demonstrators, after police cleared protesters from a key intersection on Oct. 17, prompting thousands to pour back into the neighborhood to take back the streets.

It’s gone out of control even for the people who started it, for people who planned it, for people who scripted it. They cannot end the movement, which is a major concern.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying

At the start of last week the number of protesters had dwindled into the hundreds from a peak of 200,000, according to student estimates. As a result, the police stepped up their efforts to remove barricades that continue to cause daily traffic disruptions in one of Asia’s biggest financial capitals. On Oct. 17, police used batons, shields and pepper spray as they sought to reclaim roads filled with a crowd they estimated at 9,000. More than 200 people have been hospitalized since the protests started.

We’ll see if the government has any practical solution and direction to offer. I think that’ll influence how the movement progresses from here. I think no one is expecting the government to offer a 100 percent solution immediately. Everyone understands the Hong Kong government has a lot of restrictions.

Alex Chow, secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students