Hong Kong protests: Violence worsens as authorities seek to end pro-democracy demonstrations

Anger and internal conflict fester as the final clearances loom

Police clashed with activists in Hong Kong on Monday in some of the worst violence seen in two months of protests calling for greater democracy.

There were fears tonight that the unrest would increase as the authorities moved to finally end the unprecedented demonstrations.

Late on Sunday and into this morning, activists fought police armed with pepper sprays, batons and water hoses after an injunction was granted to clear the last sites occupied by protesters on a main road on the waterfront of the former British colony. By lunchtime, any ground gained had been lost and Alex Chow, leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, admitted that its aggressive tactics had failed.

Mr Chow said: “We could see even though we have occupied some places that it could quickly be cleared by police violently.” In the early hours of Monday, protesters blocked Lung Wo Road, near the offices of the Hong Kong chief executive, Leung Chun-Ying.

Anger and internal conflict were festering as the final clearances loomed. Joshua Wong, an 18-year-old who has become a face for the so-called “Umbrella Movement”, said he would be on a hunger strike until the government responded to protesters’ demands.

And Britain’s Foreign Office minister, Hugo Swire, met his Chinese counterpart, Guo Yezhou. He said a decision by Beijing to block a visit to Hong Kong by MPs on the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee was “counter-productive”.