Police adopt softly-softly approach after tear gas fails to move protesters
Force sends in negotiators to appeal to protesters to leave the streets as riot police are withdrawn from flashpoints
Police deployed a team of 10 negotiators in a softly-softly approach to dispersing pro-democracy protesters, after heavy use of pepper spray and the firing of 87 rounds of tear gas failed to break up the demonstrations.
Officers armed with batons and shields unleashed the stinging gas in Admiralty and Central on Sunday night and early yesterday morning, but switched to trying persuasion on the crowds after dawn broke.
By then, the rallies had spread to Causeway Bay and a major road junction in Mong Kok, adding to the widespread traffic disruption already caused by the initial protests in Admiralty.
The government announced at lunchtime that the police force had eased off its deployment of anti-riot officers, and appealed to the people still protesting to disperse.
"As those people gathering on these roads have generally calmed down, the police have stood down the anti-riot deployment," it said in a statement.
A government spokesman urged protesters to stay calm and leave peacefully as soon as possible.