HONG KONG—Pro-democracy protests took on a festive atmosphere Tuesday, a day after police pulled back and the government offered minor concessions, with musicians entertaining the crowds and people decorating the umbrellas they had used to block pepper spray. But protesters worried about the possibility of a crackdown. Tens of thousands of people stretched across Hong Kong Islands main shopping and business districts and across Victoria Harbour into Kowloon on Monday. Newcomers joined the protests, which took on an air of spontaneity, growing as the day progressed, with marchers walking and sitting on the citys normally traffic-choked roads. (Latest: Hong Kong Protesters Brace for a Holiday Test) Crowds were thinner early Tuesday but were expected to grow again as the day progressed. Larger marches were expected on Wednesday, the National Day holiday, when the protests had originally been scheduled to begin. Protesters said they worried police would try to clear them out before the holiday. Tonight will be critical, said Joanne Chung, a 24-year-old management trainee at a bank who joined the protest. Everybody should be alert. In the Mong Kok district of Kowloon, a local restaurant brought fish ball noodles to protesters for breakfast and a man read one of the local anti-Beijing newspapers over a loudspeaker. Tension remained high even though there were few police in the area. It got a little tense here around 2 a.m., people looking to start a fight. We got them to cool down, but its a bit worrisome, said Raymond Chan, a 25 year-old assistant engineer who stayed through the night. Im afraid well get infiltrated somehow and trouble will start. Schools were closed in parts of Hong Kong island for a second day, and university students continued their boycott. On Monday morning, protesters bagged garbage from the night before, sorting plastic bottles for recycling. Protesters started calling their quest the Umbrella Revolution for the umbrellas they carried to deflect both pepper spray and the hot sun, and were decorating them with phrases like democracy and freedom. The protests are driven by Beijings decision to impose limits on how Hong Kong elects its leader. After police repeatedly used tear gas against protesters on Sunday, support for the protests grew among Hong Kong residents angry over tactics not seen in the city for nearly a decade. Throughout the day Monday, the crowds erupted in spontaneous chants calling for the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, whom they see as responsible for both the election limits and the use of force on Sunday. Protest leaders and pro-democracy lawmakers also called for Mr. Leung to quit. Legislator Alan Leong said his coalition was drafting a motion for Mr. Leungs impeachment. Mr. Leung on Tuesday rejected the protesters demands, saying the Chinese government wont heed calls to reverse its ruling on political reform. The ruling in August demonstrated that the Chinese government wont give in to threats asserted through illegal activity, said Mr. Leung, in his first media appearance since the police crackdown on Sunday. Authorities have stated repeatedly that the activities of the activist group Occupy Centrals protest activities are illegal. The size of the protests and their peaceful nature underline the dilemma for Beijing, which doesnt want other parts of China to follow Hong Kongs path, but would have trouble justifying a tough crackdown on the protesters. Hong Kongs financial sector was hit by the protests. Stocks fell 1% in early trading Tuesday after falling 1.9% Monday, hitting their lowest level in 2½ months. Standard Chartered Bank PLC, HSBC Holdings PLC, Bank of East Asia Ltd. , Bank of China Hong Kong and China CITIC Bank International Ltd. were among those that said their operations were affected by the protests. The banks said they were temporarily closing branches or shutting off services in affected locations. Early Tuesday, Hong Kongs central bank said 21 banks had temporarily closed 37 branches or offices across the city. Standard Chartered said it was reopening two branches but that three others remain closed. Accounting firm KPMG LLG told its 1,800 employees in affected offices to stay home while the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the citys de facto central bank, said it activated its own contingency plan and was ready to inject liquidity into the system. Beijing had agreed to grant the citys residents the right to vote starting in 2017 but only for candidates approved by a committee made up of 1,200 largely pro-Beijing, pro-business members. Currently the committee picks the chief executive without a popular vote. In an apparent concession, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam, the citys No. 2 government official, went back on a statement she made Sunday that the process geared at approving Beijings plan on elections was moving ahead swiftly. Instead, she said the city would delay the process. But she added it would be unrealistic to ask Beijing to reverse its decision. The process still officially has several months to go, with another around of public consultations and a vote planned in the citys legislature. Protesters are calling for the process to start over and for Hong Kongs people to get full control over selecting their next leader. Beijing has taken a hard line over the dispute over democracy in Hong Kong, issuing warnings to protest organizers, including students and Occupy Central. At a briefing at Chinas Foreign Ministry, spokeswoman Hua Chunying asserted Beijings control over the city. As we have always maintained, Hong Kong is Chinas Hong Kong, she said. We firmly oppose external forces supporting illegal activities, such as the Occupy Central movement, she said, a reference to a view of Hong Kong as a potential base for foreigners to exercise influence behind the scenes that could hurt China. The White House on Monday urged authorities in Hong Kong to respond to pro-democracy protests with restraint. We believe that an open society with the highest possible degree of autonomy, and governed by the rule of law, is essential for Hong Kongs stability and prosperity, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Mr. Earnest said the U.S. is closely watching the protests. We support the aspirations of the Hong Kong people, he said. Police came under criticism for their tactics on Sunday and early Monday. As crowds grew at the citys government headquarters, police blocked entrances. The result was the protest expanded to fill the city district of Admiralty. After police used tear gas, the protests spread to two shopping districts, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok. In a news conference Monday, Assistant Police Commissioner Cheung Tak-keung said the decision to use tear gas and pepper spray on Sunday was made after some protesters used violence to breach police lines. He said the police had no alternative and described the option as minimum force. —Prudence Ho in Hong Kong and Bob Davis in Beijing contributed to this article. Write to Chester Yung at chester.yung@wsj and Jason Chow at jason.chow@wsj
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 00:29:06 +0000
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