Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong canceled talks with the government on electoral reforms after mobs of people tried to drive them from the streets they have occupied for a week.
The Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the groups leading the protests that swelled to the tens of thousands earlier this week, said they saw no choice but to cancel the talks.
Some protesters allege destabilising tactics by pro-Beijing supporters.
One told reporters: “Apparently what’s going on is there are some people who have been paid, apparently they’ve been paid by mainlanders, and then they’ve been trying to cause trouble round here and they tried to take away the barricade.
“So as a result, a bunch of people went over there to stop them from causing trouble, because as a result, if they cause trouble, it will make an excuse for the police to intervene.”
Others say it was also local residents who wanted to evict the demonstrators from the street, fed up with the disturbance to their lives.
At the heart of the crisis is Beijing’s insistence that it will have the final say on nominations for Hong Kong’s next leadership election in 2017.
This is Hong Kong’s worst civil unrest since the former British colony was handed over to Chinese rule in 1997
Agencies/Canadajournal
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