Hong Kong protests: Tolo Highway closed eight hours after partial reopening as Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung fails to give district council elections guarantee
- Road was reopened as ‘friendly gesture’ by activists who say their argument is with government, not local residents
- During a 3am press conference, protesters had called on Cheung to provide assurance that the district council elections would take place as planned
A major highway in Hong Kong was blocked again on Friday night, eight hours after it had been partially reopened.
Live footage showed that vehicles, including private cars and buses,were stuck on both northbound and southbound routes of the Tolo Highway at around 7.30pm.
The blockage happened after Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung held a press conference, saying the government was preparing for the district council elections to be held on November 24 but did not pledge they would definitely proceed.
However, the move came with conditions attached, as activists at Chinese University issued an ultimatum, giving the government 24 hours to guarantee that district council elections would go ahead as planned.
The protesters’ announcement, made at a 3am press conference, was not universally popular, with the university’s student union appearing to distance itself from the move. In a statement a few hours later, the union said it was not aware of the election demand, and said it had held its own meetings with people at the school.
