HONG KONG (AP) – Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters faced off with Hong Kong police late Sunday, stepping up their movement for genuine democratic reforms after being camped out on the city’s streets for more than two months.
Student protest leaders on Sunday night told a big crowd rallying at the main protest site outside government headquarters that they would escalate their campaign by surrounding the building.
The crowd tried to push its way down a narrow staircase in an attempt to get to the office of the city’s Beijing-backed leader. Hundreds of protesters charged past police lines, blocking traffic on a main road, but were stopped by police barricades from going down an access road to Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying’s office.
Protesters said they would occupy the road until Monday morning to prevent Leung and other government officials from getting to work.
Police arrested at least five protesters, according to the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the groups that have played important roles in organizing the protest movement, which is seeking free elections in the former British colony.