HONG KONG: The original founders of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Occupy movement tearfully announced on Tuesday they would “surrender” by turning themselves in to police and urged protesters on the streets to retreat.
But frustrated demonstrators at the city’s main protest site said they felt “abandoned” by the move.
The announcement came after hundreds of pro-democracy protesters clashed with police late on Sunday, leaving dozens injured in one of the worst nights of violence since rallies began over two months ago.
“As we prepare to surrender, we three urge the students to retreat — to put down deep roots in the community and transform the movement,” said Occupy Central leader Benny Tai.
Tai said the trio would surrender to police on Wednesday in a commitment to the rule of law and “the principle of peace and love”.
Protesters who have blocked three major intersections in the city since late September to demand free leadership elections in the semi-autonomous city, said that they cannot leave until their demands have been met.
“The demand for civil nomination and true democracy has not been achieved and this site has not been cleared. Now they say they are turning themselves to police, the only thing I can say is that they abandoned us,” a 17 year old protester who only identified herself as Wong said.
“Now they talk about retreat. It is a betrayal of what we have insisted for all along,” said 24-year-old protester Raymond Tsang. “We should not consider an end to the campaign until there is a solid achievement.” Teenage protest leader Joshua Wong paid tribute to Tai and said the student groups leading the movement would ‘discuss’ Occupy’s request.
“If Benny Tai did not publicise the idea of civil disobedience at the beginning, then there would be no umbrella movement today,” said Wong, who began a hunger strike on Monday in a last-ditch attempt to force the government into further talks.A WATERSHED MOMENT: Academics Tai and Chan Kin-man and Baptist minister Chu Yiu-ming founded the Occupy Central civil disobedience group in early 2013 to push for political reforms, but have increasingly taken a backseat as more radical student groups came to the fore.
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