World
Three Hong Kong protest leaders have surrendered to police as they try to take the protests off the streets after more than two months of rallies punctuated by violence. Aljazeera writes:
Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man and Chu Yiu-ming quickly emerged from the station on Wednesday, saying they had not been arrested despite admitting "participating in unauthorised assembly".
"We have not been arrested so we are allowed to leave with no restriction on our liberty," said Tai. They were explicitly told by the interviewing officers that illegal occupation of public places was an unlawful act and they should stop such act immediately.
Tai told the AFP news agency there were "political considerations" behind their swift release to avoid crowds flocking to the protest zones, but said it was inevitable they would eventually be arrested. The three Occupy founders were joined in their "surrender" by 82-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, a prominent pro-democracy supporter, while 40 others also waited outside the police station to fill out forms to turn themselves in.
Students still occupy two sites after clashes with police earlier this week as they tried to surround city government headquarters. Police said on Wednesday afternoon that 24 people had so far surrendered.
"They were explicitly told by the interviewing officers that illegal occupation of public places was an unlawful act and they should stop such act immediately," a statement said. "Police will conduct follow-up investigations based on the information provided."
Hong Kong students vowed to stay put at protest sites in key parts of the Asia financial center on Wednesday in their demand for electoral reform, defying calls by leaders of the civil disobedience movement Occupy Central to retreat. Reuters reports:
Hundreds remain at the main protest site in Admiralty, next to the Central business district, determined to continue their fight for free elections for the Chinese-controlled city's next leader in 2017.
The founders of Occupy Central on Tuesday urged the protesters to go home amid fears of violence, just hours after student leader Joshua Wong had called on supporters to regroup. "I think that announcement was quite nonsense because, as I said, we have been through a lot and I don't think that we should pack up our things and leave now," said 18-year-old student Lorraine Lam.
The protesters are united in their calls for full democracy for the former British colony but are split over tactics, two months after the demonstrations, branded illegal by Beijing and the Hong Kong government, began.
"Illegal demands cannot be granted, especially those expressed by illegal and extreme methods," the overseas edition of the Chinese Communist Party's official People's Daily said.
The Occupy call came a day after clashes between police and protesters in Admiralty after activists escalated their actions and tried to ring government headquarters.
