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Jennifer Ngo

The ugly scenes which unfolded in Mong Kok last night came just hours after police flooded the district in a pre-dawn operation to clear one of the key Occupy protest sites and reopen major roads.
That action came 15 hours after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced moves were under way to arrange a dialogue - moves which, after last night's clashes between protesters and police, now look to be in the balance.
Both police officers and protesters were injured as a game of cat and mouse played out in the small hours on this morning, bringing renewed disruption to the area that just hours earlier police thought they had secured.
A long, tense day began when police raided the encampment at about 5am, surprising dozens of protesters who were sleeping on the streets.
Using bolt cutters and cranes, police removed all the barricades, tents, shrines and umbrellas.
Soon, the northbound carriageway of Nathan Road at Argyle Street was reopened to traffic.
The police operation followed the clearance of camps in Admiralty and Causeway Bay earlier this week.
Throughout the afternoon, protesters were confined by police to a short stretch of Nathan Road.
By evening, people who had left work had poured into the neighbourhood.
At about 7.30pm, scuffles broke out alongside a metal barrier. Protesters tried to stop police removing the sole remaining tent that stood there.
Outnumbered, dozens of officers at the scene retreated.
Protesters rushed to remove the metal barriers set up by police and clashed with those on a police cordon.
Officers responded with pepper spray and pushed some protesters to the ground before taking them to police vans.
By 8.30pm, Argyle Street was again closed to traffic amid a stand-off between police and protesters.
Police Senior Superintendent Catherine Kwan Chui-ching announced at a 5am press conference that the force would take immediate action to remove road blocks, adding that "protesters will be allowed to stay at the site".
As she spoke, hundreds of police officers, many in riot gear, began to dismantle barricades.
"Everyone will come back out again," said sales manager Larry Choi, adding that he had expected the police operation for days.
Most residents and workers interviewed in the area said they welcomed the clearance, which allowed bus services to resume on Nathan Road.
An escalator maintenance worker, who identified himself by his surname Sze, said he had had to walk almost half an hour to work from Mong Kok to Sham Shui Po when bus services were suspended.
"It has been disturbing and noisy when the protesters make speeches at night," Sze said.
Some business owners in Mong Kok said they were not satisfied because the protest site was only partially cleared.
"This is useless. And even worse," said a man, who gave his surname as Wong
"Who will come here to shop or do business now?"
Wong's Chinese herbs shop is next to the confined protest site. He said that business had dropped 90 per cent in the past few weeks and he hoped there would be a full clearance of the protest site soon.
Hui Chun-tak, chief superintendent of the police's public relations branch, warned protesters against instigating further "flash mob" actions.
His comments came amid complaints of police brutality over the past two days.
On Wednesday, as police cleared Lung Wo Road of protesters, a television crew filmed what are thought to have been seven plain-clothes officers in Tamar Park punching and kicking a protester - later identified as Civic Party member Ken Tsang Kin-chiu - on the ground.
Hui said officers were still waiting to take testimony from Tsang. Seven officers suspected of involvement had been suspended from their duties pending an investigation, he said.
Last night, about 10 men on Johnston Road in Wan Chai threw plastic road cones onto the street, before running off.
 


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Hundreds clash with police after the fall of Mong Kok

Demonstrators carrying umbrellas clash with police in Mong Kok last night, just hours after officers cleared the protest site. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

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Hong Kong

Hundreds of protesters clash with police after pre-dawn operation that cleared away most of the encampment's tents, shrines and umbrellas


The ugly scenes which unfolded in Mong Kok last night came just hours after police flooded the district in a pre-dawn operation to clear one of the key Occupy protest sites and reopen major roads.


Hundreds clash with police after the fall of Mong Kok

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hundreds of protesters clash with police after pre-dawn operation that cleared away most of the encampment's tents, shrines and umbrellas

Hundreds of protesters clash with police after pre-dawn operation that cleared away most of the encampment's tents, shrines and umbrellas