The day Hong Kong's streets were taken over by mob rule

Koreans' precision operation outfoxes the police They had warned Hong Kong all week that Saturday would be their day and so it was. Korean farmers were joined by thousands of others from around the world for the first time - a motley collection of local troublemakers, students, NGO delegates and an assorted rent-a-crowd - but it was the Koreans who had the guile to lead them all to the edge of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre rather than the desolate Wan Chai cargo area set aside for them. Police had authorised a 2pm march from Victoria Park and had prepared with the week's biggest battalion of officers - 2,000 - backed up with giant saltwater cannons, pepper spray and a barricade which saw them tower above the mob. This was to be the biggest official action by protesters for the day and police were ready. But if you are a fanatical peasant or unionist from Korea with a reputation for violence, you don't follow plans. Plain and simple, the police were caught out. The Koreans realised most of the riot police would be gathered around the official cargo-area protest site, leaving the majority of police on the streets in normal uniform and not kitted out for a riot or to battle such a well-drilled and experienced army. By 3.30pm the first small and, surprisingly, local group, was engaged in another series of futile battles with police blocking the path to the WTO venue far in the distance. But while the crowd chanted 'Shame' and 'F*** the police', in Victoria Park there remained a large contingent of militant Korean unionists and members of the National Peasants' League who had fuelled the violent clashes with police all week. When they decided to move, they moved fast, separating into groups in Causeway Bay and Wan Chai. Then they arrived at Marsh Road in Wan Chai, the entrance to the cargo area. But instead of continuing to the protest site they turned and used brute force to charge through the thin blue line of officers and started running down Lockhart Road. The first real clashes with police were savage, running battles, with individual protesters armed with bamboo poles charging at officers, seizing their shields, batons and even attempting to roll a police van. Officers were left stranded and set on by groups, some falling to the ground and being set upon by the mob. Taking advantage of the chaos, the group then retreated back to Marsh Road and began running down Hennessy Road. Police were nowhere to be seen as some turned down Fleming Road and others down Luard Road, before bolting into oncoming traffic on Gloucester Road and surging into Fleming Road. Fate had found them in the perfect place for the oncoming brutal battle that was about to take place. A line of riot police stood before them, with long metal gates blocking them from direct contact with the batons and shields. The first clashes were just before 6pm. While they had only been armed with bamboo, now they seized the metal gates dividing the police and pulled them to the back of the crowd as protesters and onlookers continued to flood the area. They had come to the vicinity of of the convention centre and were planning their final stand. At the back of the crowd, a section of the group was busy pulling the barriers apart as the drums sounded and more protesters continued to make their way to the site as word spread that they had their chance to storm the WTO. The barriers were gone, and police now stood face to face with their enemy. The noise intensified, with the Koreans standing and chanting while random protesters taunted the police ranks. The unionists and farmers took the front line on both sides of the road divider, which filled with onlookers, many with cameras. It was nearly dark when the first outbreaks of violence occurred. Groups of protesters targeted the mobile riot officers, who had only small shields. But no longer were they armed with only their fists. Metal rods from the gates and even flagpoles were used in the vicious assaults on the police from all sides. By 6.30pm, the attacks had reached their zenith, and the fear in the eyes of the police on the front line had turned to weariness. Protesters like Rakesh Tiket from an Indian Farmers' League proudly displayed the broken shields they had seized from the police to the roars of the crowd. The Koreans had turned the metal skeletons of the barricades into battering rams, and the police line retreated from repeated assaults. Others dismantled the wooden shutters put in to protect the windows of Central Plaza. Emboldened by their victory, the crowd surged forward, a large contingent split from the pack to form a third front and began taking on the police in the forecourt area of Central Plaza. Again, police were caught unprepared, and one-to-one combat broke out between officers and armed demonstrators. By 7pm, and despite what looked like an impenetrable cordon of riot police, the group broke through. Police unleashed at least three canisters of tear gas into the crowd, while those that broke through ran to within metres of the convention centre's main door. The police then fired another four canisters of the tear gas into the first group. People fell to the floor, vomiting, tears streaming from their faces. But the Koreans in the front kept going, so another two canisters were released. 'Help me, help me,' one woman screamed from the floor as retreating protesters trampled over her. Amid the choking gas, the final group continued to push on before five canisters of gas saw them turn on their heels and flee. On the Fleming Road overpass, protesters cried and washed their eyes as a lone Korean farmer tried in vain to break a stolen police shield. The heart of Hong Kong had been turned into a battle zone and as the protesters gathered into the night on Gloucester Road, it was far from finished.