Hong Kong: Hong Kong police battling activists for control of an underpass in the dead of night on Wednesday sparked public anger after officers were seen kicking a handcuffed protester in the worst violence since street demonstrations for greater democracy began more than two weeks ago.
Officers armed with riot shields, batons and pepper spray knocked activists to the ground, dragging dozens away, and tore down barricades protesters used as roadblocks around the underpass outside the government’s headquarters.
Outrage over their aggressive tactics exploded after local TV showed half a dozen officers taking the protester around a dark corner and kicking him on the ground. It’s unclear what provoked the attack.
Local Now TV showed footage of him splashing water on officers beforehand.
“Hong Kong police have gone insane today, carrying out their own punishment in private,” said pro-democracy lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan. “Hong Kong’s values and its rule of law really have been completely destroyed by police chiefs.”
Beijing, meanwhile, issued its harshest condemnations yet of the protests, calling them illegal, bad for business and against Hong Kong’s best interests.
The central government has become increasingly impatient with the demonstrations, the biggest challenge to Beijing’s authority since China took control of the former British colony in 1997.
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.” “Facts and history tell us that radical and illegal acts that got their way only result in more severe illegal activities, exacerbating disorder and turmoil,” the commentary said. “Stability is bliss, and turmoil brings havoc,” it said.
However, there were no signs that the central government was planning to become directly involved in suppressing the demonstrations, which have marshalled opposition to plans for a pro-Beijing committee to screen candidates to run in Hong Kong’s first elections to choose the city’s chief executive in 2017.
The protesters also want the current leader, the deeply unpopular Leung Chun-ying, to resign.
The demonstrations have posed an unprecedented challenge to the government, and it is unclear when and how the crisis will be resolved.
Leung, who described the protests as being “out of control,” told reporters that officials are willing to talk to protesters, but reiterated that Beijing will not drop the election restrictions it imposed.
He cancelled a leader’s questions session at the Legislative Council scheduled for Thursday, citing security risks. (AP)
