HK protesters in offer to withdraw
Print Edition
A NUMBER of protesters have decided to withdraw from areas in Hong Kong as a goodwill gesture for talks with the authorities, while secondary schools affected by the Occupy Central demonstration were due to resume classes today.
Demonstrators outside the Chief Executive’s Office in Admiralty said they would leave the streets near the government headquarters on their own volition. “Some citizens have a negative view on the days of protest. It’s time for us to leave,” said one student. Some protesters in Mong Kok, a commercial area in Kowloon where 19 were arrested after pro and anti-Occupy people clashed on Friday, also left and joined the rally in Admiralty. They apologized for the disruption of life and businesses caused by their protests.
Traffic in Lung Wo Road temporarily resumed last night after demonstrators removed barricades and shook hands with police officers.
Meanwhile, the city education bureau said that classes of all secondary schools in the Wan Chai and Central and Western districts would resume today.
Classes at kindergartens, primary schools and special schools in the two districts would remain suspended, and the government would closely watch the situation to decide when these classes would resume, the bureau said.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying appeared on television on Saturday evening to urge everyone to go home, saying key roads needed to return to normal by today. He said the government and police had a duty and the determination to take all necessary actions to restore social order so that government and the people of Hong Kong could return to normal work and life.
He said “the most urgent thing” was to clear access to government headquarters “so 3,000 government staff can go to work normally and serve citizens.”
Police spokesman Steve Hui said: “To restore order, we are determined and we are confident we have the capability to take any necessary action. We have to make correct assessments, then depending on the prevailing situation, we will consider all necessary measures.”
The protests, which the government had declared illegal, brought much of Hong Kong to a standstill during what is traditionally a busy weeklong shopping holiday.
Many residents now want the protests to end or to move elsewhere so that workers, businesses and schools can return to normal.
One man even threatened to jump from an overhead pedestrian walkway, saying he was angry his children’s schools had been shut by the demonstrations.
The man, who said his surname was Yau, scaled the bridge in the city’s Admiralty district — epicenter of the protests — and berated protesters for five hours, at one point brandishing a knife.
‘Clear the road’
“Give the road back to Hong Kong’s parents so kids can go back to school,” he shouted to crowds assembled below.
“I’m representing parents asking you when you will clear the road,” he added.
“You’ve been out here a whole week. I have three kids who need to go to school and I need to go to work,” he shouted at the crowd.
The walkway links Hong Kong’s besieged government offices and a shopping center, and allows pedestrians to cross what is ordinarily a busy highway.
For the past week the road has attracted thousands of protesters, who hold rallies, eat and sleep in the area, paralyzing traffic and causing schools to close.
Johnson Cheung, 26, said he supported freedom of expression, but said the protesters were driving away tourists and income for businesses.
Cheung, who works in a duty-free shop, said: “The students don’t need to make a living, their parents pay for them. But we have jobs, we have to live.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
