HK sees new anti-Occupy clashes

Renewed clashes broke out in Hong Kong on Monday when hundreds of anti-Occupy demonstrators descended upon a group of pan-democracy protesters in an attempt to reclaim occupied districts amid the ongoing protests.

The confrontation came as the protests entered the third week of blockades.

Police intervened several times to keep the two sides apart, as both camps argued and pushed each other.

"We've had enough. They [Occupy protesters] have been blocking traffic and business operations for more than two weeks now. It is time to call on these protesters to return the blocked sites back to the people of Hong Kong," Leticia Lee See-yin, a co-founder of the anti-Occupy Blue Ribbon Movement, told the Global Times on Monday.

The ongoing Occupy actions have blocked parts of the city's busiest districts, including Central and Admiralty, home to the city's business firms and government buildings, as well as the bustling working class neighborhood of Mongkok.

In an attempt to end the blockade, angry truck drivers have volunteered to go to the protest scene and remove barricades set up by the Occupy protesters, Lee told the Global Times.

Meanwhile, a group of taxi drivers who complained about the Occupy protests harming their businesses rallied on one barricaded road with a row of 12 taxis, demanding an end to the protest.

Several hours before the confrontations, Hong Kong police began to remove some barricades erected by pan-democracy protesters in the areas of Central, Admiralty and Mongkok in an effort to relieve traffic congestion on working days. The protesters could remain, the police said.

The Hong Kong government has repeatedly said the demonstrations are illegal. In an interview on Sunday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said the police will clear the occupied areas only when necessary, and will only deploy minimum force.

"The Hong Kong government and the police will continue to exercise a high level of tolerance," Leung told reporters during his stay in Guangzhou on Monday.

"Still, this situation can't last for long," he restated.

The police ruled out speculation by protesters that by removing the barricades, they are in effect clearing the protest sites. The police have said that they will continue to remove the barricades.

"It is the police's responsibility to ensure smooth traffic, so by removing the barricades, they are only enforcing the law," Gregory Lau Tat-keung, a former police superintendent, told the Global Times.