HONG KONG (AP) – Friction between pro-democracy protesters and opponents of their weeklong occupation of major Hong Kong streets persisted Saturday as police denied any connection to criminal gangs suspected of inciting attacks on largely peaceful demonstrators.
Police 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, said Senior Superintendent Patrick Kwok Pak-chung.
Officials vehemently denied rumors they might have coordinated with the gangs to clear the streets.
“Such rumors linking us to ‘black societies,’ are utterly unfair,” visibly agitated Hong Kong’s security chief, Lai Tung-kwok, told reporters.
The confrontations, mostly in gritty, blue-collar Mong Kok district, led protest leaders to call off planned talks with the government on political reforms. Students and other activists are protesting China’s decision to require a committee of mostly pro-Beijing figures screen candidates for the city’s first-ever election of its top leader. They are also demanding the resignation of the current chief executive, Leung Chun-ying.