Last updated on: October 03, 2014 3:34 PM
Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters and police clashed early Saturday in the latest violent incident since police used tear gas and pepper spray on demonstrators on Sunday.
Video footage on CNN showed police forcing their way through a barricade protesters had set up near a government building in the central business district.
There were no reports of injuries.
Police have warned of “severe consequences” if protesters try to occupy government buildings.
Tens of thousands of protesters have occupied some of Hong Kong’s busiest streets for more than a week, stifling traffic and business activity. The protesters are calling on China to allow democratic elections in 2017 and for Hong Kong’s Beijing-friendly Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to resign.
Talks canceled
Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters on Friday called off talks with the government about electoral reforms, after violent clashes broke out with pro-Beijing crowds at their protest camps.
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The Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the groups leading the protests, made the announcement after pro-government crowds descended on tf their camps on Friday, tearing down their tents and barricades in what activists said was orchestrated violence by paid thugs.
Williams Q&A with Brian Padden on Hong Kong Protesters Clash
Earlier, demonstrators had threatened to call off the talks if action was not taken to protect the protesters, saying “organized attacks” on demonstrators must stop.
Hong Kong’s leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, proposed the talks late Thursday, seeking to defuse the standoff, the biggest challenge to Beijing’s authority since China took control of the former British colony in 1997.
The scuffles in Kowloon’s crowded Mong Kok district and other areas were the most chaotic since police used tear gas and pepper spray last weekend to try to disperse the protesters.
Hong Kong police were forced to intervene Friday after street fights broke out between pro-democracy protesters and groups of people who said they were frustrated residents who opposed the week-long protests.
Police formed a human chain in an attempt to separate the two groups. When the barrier did not hold, more police were sent in as reinforcements.
No serious injuries were reported.
