Democracy activists in Hong Kong are angry over new election rules mandated by China's central government. UPI dy/David Dauk-fei Yee |
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HONG KONG, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Thousands of democracy activists gathered in Hong Kong this weekend to protest the interference of the Chinese government in the city's elections. The protesters congregated just outside of the government headquarters in the city's center.
Some reports estimated that more than 50,000 people gathered for the evening rally. As the clock struck midnight in Hong Kong on Saturday night, tens of thousands were still packed in. At least 70 people were arrested by Hong Kong police, most of them young people -- high school and university students. As crowds continued to grow late in the evening, police reportedly began blocking additional protestors from joining the mass.
Democracy supporters in Hong Kong are upset over China's decision to augment the rules of Hong Kong's democratic elections -- stipulating that only candidates approved by the central government be allowed to appear on the ballot.
Most of those arrested on Saturday night were taken into custody for attempting to scale the fences that police had set up to block off access to Civic Plaza, the site of another protest held just days ago. But today, only emergency personnel were allowed into the cordoned-off plaza.
According to Los Angeles Times correspondent, Violet Law, some protestors could be heard chanting: "The students are innocent! The students are innocent! Officers, back off! Back off! Back off!"
Many of the students arrested were members of a high school activist club called Scholarism.
"Toward the end of our school boycott last night, we decided to seize the initiative and take back the plaza in order to escalate our action," 20-year-old Johnny Chung, a senior member of Scholarism, told Law in the wake of his arrest.
"The future of Hong Kong is ours," 16-year-old Phoebe Leung, another student protestor, told CNN.
"I can't change Hong Kong, but if all of us are here ... we may change Hong Kong's future."
More protests are scheduled for later in the week.
