Police clashed with activists at the main Hong Kong pro-democracy protest site Monday morning after a violent nighttime standoff when protesters surrounded government headquarters in the city’s Admiralty district.
Authorities removed some tents and barricades at the main protest site before withdrawing. The site is currently calm.
Protesters, following student leaders’ calls to escalate their civil disobedience movement, surrounded the government complex Sunday night and charged onto Lung Wo Road, a major east-west route next to the headquarters. Police used batons and pepper spray to push back demonstrators.
Police and protesters were seen injured in the clashes, with protesters seen receiving first aid treatment from fellow activists, and police carried away on gurneys.
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The protests have drawn widespread international attention, although the Chinese government has rebutted any efforts by outside countries to “interfere.”
On Sunday Sir Richard Ottoway, who chairs the British parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said he and other lawmakers had been barred by China from making a planned trip to Hong Kong to assess the political situation.
“The Chinese government are acting in an overtly confrontational manner in refusing us access to do our job,” he said.
