Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong slammed the government for a “lack of sincerity” on Friday after police dismantled one of the region’s main protest sites, tearing down barricades in an early-morning raid.
Activists said the move would only create obstacles in upcoming talks with government officials, coming as it did less than a day after Hong Kong’s current representative, C.Y. Leung, said discussions could begin as early as next week.
“Police removed barricades in Mong Kok 15 hours after [chief executive] Leung Chun-ying said engaging in dialogue didn’t mean the government would not clear the protest sites,” one of the main organizing groups, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, said in a statement. “We think it amounts to an open insult to the intelligence of Hong Kong people.”
“If [the government] continues to clear protest sites gradually under the disguise of removing barricades, it would only provoke more people to take to streets,” Occupy Central wrote.
Hundreds of police moved in on the site at 7:00 AM without warning. Although they cleared the area of the metal barriers, bamboo poles, and recycling bins protesters had been using to block a major intersection, about 30 activists remained on the ground refusing to move.
The operation is the third in recent weeks that have seen police descending on protest sites in the early morning, when crowds are at their smallest, but none of the raids have prevented protesters from returning to the area later in the evening and rebuilding their camps.
The South China Morning Post reports:
[A] group of at least 300 protesters regrouped and staged a sit-in on the southbound lane of Nathan Road between Argyle Street and Shantung Street, which remained closed to traffic.