HONG KONG – Protesters turned out in force at a rally Saturday night in Hong Kong, galvanized after days of flagging momentum by violent attacks on their ranks and an ultimatum by authorities to clear out of their occupied streets by Monday morning.
But the massive crowds and the government’s deadline suggest the crisis may soon come to a head.
The throng was driven in part by violent attacks carried out over the past two days against the largely peaceful protesters. Anger and accusations have grown that police were colluding with paid assailants that many believe were sent by triad gangs. Collusion is suspected because of officers’ often delayed and tepid response to the attacks as well as their apparent reluctance to arrest assailants.
Officials deny the accusation, but outrage over the weak response by police to the attacks caused protest organizers to pull out of planned talks with Hong Kong’s government.
Ratcheting up the pressure Saturday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in a televised statement insisted that the government condemns all violence, but he argued that the only solution to the attacks is for pro-democracy protesters to go home.
“The most urgent thing is to clear the way to the government offices on Monday morning,” Leung said.
Representatives of three protest groups responded by saying they would not block government buildings. One of the student groups, demonstrating against voting restrictions issued by Beijing, said it would be willing to resume talks with the current government if the authorities opened an investigation into how police handled the recent attacks.
The crowd at the main protest site outside Hong Kong’s government headquarters appeared to be the largest in recent days. Protesters filled a vast expanse of the six-lane road that has been the main staging ground of student demonstrations for the past week.
The rally was a show of defiance, marked by songs, raucous democracy chants and speeches hailing what the student demonstrators have already accomplished. Some in attendance saw the moment as a kind of coda to the week-long protests, led by a new generation of Hong Kong students who refuse to let Beijing dictate the terms by which their society is governed.
“This may be over tomorrow,” said Ada Lam, 25, a kindergarten teacher. “But we will never lose this time. We will go forward with it in our hearts.”
The resurgence of protesters around the Hong Kong government’s headquarters came as demonstrations elsewhere in the city appeared to be fizzling out.
Morale at the protest had sagged after Friday, when it became clear to students that their demands were not going to be fully met.
Many were also exhausted. “I will stay here as long as others are staying here,” said David Chan, a university student. “But I am tired. My family wants me to come home. I miss my bed.”
Such resignation and solidarity seemed to be a defining theme of the night. While the occupation sites face dispersal – another one in the Causeway Bay neighborhood had shrunk to a fraction of its former size by Saturday afternoon – many protesters feel they’ve laid down a marker in Hong Kong politics and this Chinese territory’s fight for democracy.
“We are in this together,” said Karen Liu, another university student. “Not just tonight or this weekend, but for a whole generation.”
