Hong Kong's Beijing-backed leader Leung Chun-ying said streets occupied by pro-democracy protesters must be opened by Monday, raising fears among activists that a police crackdown was imminent after thousands of demonstrators again rallied to preserve the political freedoms the city has enjoyed for years under a special agreement with mainland China’s Communist government.
"There are many problems to be resolved in society, but the right way is through rational communication to seek common ground while holding back differences," Chief Executive Leung said Saturday in a televised address. "Not fighting on the streets, which makes things worse."
The protesters and other activists are demanding Leung’s resignation. They also object to China's decision to require a committee of mostly pro-Beijing figures to screen candidates for the first-ever election of Hong Kong’s top leader in 2017. The former British colony was handed over to Chinese rule in 1997 under an arrangement allowing numerous democratic freedoms that don’t exist in the rest of China.
Friction between the protesters and opponents of their weeklong occupation of major Hong Kong streets has intensified, as police denied they had any connection to criminal gangs suspected of inciting recent attacks on largely peaceful demonstrators, many of whom are students.
"Democracy now! Democracy in Hong Kong!" thousands chanted Saturday night as speakers urged them to persist in their campaign. The rally lasted hours, with participants clapping and cheering as a stream of speakers and singers addressed them and performed popular songs.
"We are not seeking revolution. We just want democracy," said Joshua Wong, a 17-year-old student leader. "We hope there will be no violence," he added. "It would be unfortunate if this movement ended with bloodshed and violence."
But nerves were frayed after the rally ended, with rumors swirling that police would act to clear out the protesters in the middle of the night. Still, crowds filled the protest area after midnight.
"The more suppression by the government, the more resistance by the people," Wong told protesters earlier.
Police had arrested 19 people during a night of running brawls in which at least 12 people and six officers were injured. Eight men were believed to have backgrounds linked to triads, or organized crime gangs, said senior superintendent Patrick Kwok Pak-chung.
Rumors quickly spread that the government had coordinated the attacks, particularly after pro-democracy protest supporter and head of Hong Kong’s Civic Party Alan Leong Kah-hit told local newspaper South China Morning Post that he had a “strong suspicion that [Leung] was the mastermind behind the violence.”
Gary Wong Pui-fung, a sociology professor at Hong Kong University (HKU) who specializes in Hong Kong society, told Al Jazeera that amid a bid for the territory’s hearts and minds, the anti-protester violence would deal a heavy blow to Leung’s administration.
“I believe that public opinion is turning against the government as law and order is now shaken,” Wong said.
Officials vehemently denied the rumors of triad involvement. "Such rumors linking us to ‘black societies,' are utterly unfair," Hong Kong's security chief, Lai Tung-kwok, told reporters.
Cheung Tak-keung, the deputy police superintendent, said the police were trying their best to maintain "buffer zones" between people of opposing views, after local residents and supporters of Beijing clashed with the pro-democracy protesters earlier this week.
"The situation was not easy to handle. There were thousands of people," Cheung said, noting that many of those gathered were just onlookers who could get caught up in a "very high-risk activity."
"We strongly condemn all violent acts," he said, cautioning people to avoid such areas because "unsettled people's emotions may cause more confrontations."
The confrontations, mostly in the busy Mong Kok district, led protest leaders to call off planned talks with the government on political reforms.
With the talks suspended, the next steps for all sides in the crisis remained uncertain. Police have repeatedly urged protesters and their opponents to clear the streets for the sake of public order, but have shown tolerance after the earlier attempt to disperse the protesters just drew more people into the streets.
The protests have been largely peaceful since police last Sunday fired tear gas at crowds demanding Beijing grant Hong Kong the unfettered right to choose its own leader.
The standoff in Mong Kok, across Victoria Harbor from the activists' main protest encampment, continued Saturday after a tense night when hundreds of supporters of the protesters gathered to protect them.
Kwok said those arrested were facing charges of unlawful assembly, fighting in public and assault. On Saturday the situation remained tense as the anti-protest groups regrouped in Mong Kok, at times chanting "Pack Up!" at the protesters.
The opponents of the demonstrations are using blue ribbons to signal their support for the mainland Chinese government, while the protesters are wearing yellow ribbons. At least some opponents of the protests are residents fed up with blocked streets and related inconveniences.
Some people on the "blue ribbon" side rallied earlier in Kowloon's waterfront Tsim Sha Tsui. "Love Hong Kong" and "Support Police" they chanted, holding up flags and heart-shaped signs with the slogan, "Alliance in support of our police force."
"Now the students are trying to control the government," complained a man who gave only his first name, Jackie. "If there was a riot on Wall Street in America they wouldn't tolerate such troublemaking."
The Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the groups leading the protests that drew a peak crowd of tens of thousands of people earlier in the week, said they saw no choice but to cancel the dialogue they had agreed to after Leung proposed talks.
They demanded the government hold someone responsible for the scuffles Friday, the worst disturbances since police used tear gas and pepper spray to try to disperse the protesters the weekend before.
The allegations that organized crime members were involved in the clashes fueled jitters Saturday at the movement's main camp, on a highway outside government headquarters.
"Many people are gathering here and they are very determined to unite against the triad members," said 21-year-old Amy Ho, who was studying translation at a university.
On social media, an image circulated purportedly calling on people in the "silent majority" to gather and agitate the protesters in Mong Kok for 300 Hong Kong dollars ($38), promising bonuses for extra destruction. The information could not be verified, and calls to a mobile phone number listed on the notice did not go through.
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