Beijing 'prepared for the worst' as it expects HK pro-democracy protests to drag on
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 15 October, 2014, 12:51am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 15 October, 2014, 12:51am
Gary Cheung [email protected]
Protesters reinforce barricades near the government headquarters. Photo: Dickson Lee
Police cleared some of the main barricades in Admiralty and Causeway Bay yesterday but demonstrators remained and the top mainland representative in Hong Kong said Beijing had “prepared for the worst” fearing the Occupy Central protests would drag on “for some time”.
Traffic resumed in Queensway in Admiralty at noon after hundreds of police officers tore down bamboo scaffolding in the main road linking Wan Chai, Admiralty and Central.
The move followed a swiftly executed dawn operation to remove barricades in Causeway Bay yesterday morning.
Police are expected to remove barriers in Mong Kok today. But last night, protesters "re-occupied" Lung Wo Road, adjacent to the avenue in front of the chief executive's office, after a tense stand-off between police and protesters.
Police in helmets and shields arrived at around 10.15pm after dozens of protesters apparently tried to block traffic on that road. They tried to push back protesters in the Central-bound side of the road, but were surrounded by crowds who came to support protesters and ensure that no one would be arrested.
Police eventually retreated, while the protesters set up new barricades on Lung Wo.
Defiant protesters vowed to stay put. Last night, hundreds remained in Harcourt Road near the government headquarters and in tents on Connaught Road Central in Admiralty.
A coalition of truck drivers, who had earlier threatened to remove barricades in protest zones on their own, will meet today to discuss their next move.
Zhang Xiaoming, director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong, said the central government expected the protests to drag on “for some time” and had “prepared for the worst”. He made the remark to members of the city’s main pro-government party in Shenzhen on Sunday.
“Zhang didn’t elaborate on what was meant by ‘prepare for the worst’,” a member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said. “I think the central government hopes the stalemate can be resolved peacefully but it won’t abandon its principles.”
Beijing has rejected protesters’ calls to rethink its restrictive framework for political reform.
“Zhang told us as the protests unfold, many Hongkongers had been inconvenienced and public opinion would be on our side,” the DAB member said.
Zhang and Chen Zuoer, former deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, described the protests as a “colour revolution”, a label given by Vice-Premier Wang Yang on Saturday.
Chen, chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said that people were manipulating the movement in an effort to topple the Hong Kong government.
“Democracy and the rule of law are the pillars underpinning Hong Kong’s prosperity and social stability. But they have come under threat from the Occupy protests,” he said.
There was also a fresh claim in mainland media of overseas influence. A commentary in a news portal affiliated with China News Service said US diplomats and intelligence officials in Hong Kong had helped plan the protests.
The city’s Anglican Archbishop the Most Reverend Paul Kwong called for people to work together to resolve the conflict.
“We are deeply saddened and distressed by the increasing social conflict,” he said. “All people in Hong Kong share the gravity of the situation.”
Reuters reported that Beijing would give no ground to the protests but did not want a bloody crackdown. It said the position was set by the National Security Commission chaired by President Xi Jinping x this month. It said Beijing would send in the People’s Liberation Army only if there were widespread killing, arson and looting.
