Asia-Pacific

Hong Kong police seize over 200 protesters

389780_Hong-Kong-arrests

Police have arrested more than 200 anti-election law protesters in Hong Kong while clearing out the last major camp site in the city.

On Thursday, more than 1,000 policemen cordoned off the occupation zone in the Admiralty district and removed barricades and tents there.

The arrests came after police ordered the demonstrators to vacate the “occupied area” within 30 minutes.

Student leader Nathan Law and Opposition Democratic Party founder Martin Lee were reportedly among those detained during Thursday’s operation.

Student leaders and activists, however, have pledged to continue their protests, calling on the government to listen to their demands for political reforms.

Student leader Alex Chow said the demonstrators would find other ways to press ahead with their demands in the near future, adding, “People will come back again, they will come back with stronger force,” he said.
Since late September, the Admiralty camp site has been the center of protests against an election law introduced by the Chinese government, under which the people of Hong Kong will have to elect their next leader from a list of Beijing-vetted candidates in 2017.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. The financial hub has enjoyed substantial political autonomy since 1997, when it returned to China after about a century of British colonial rule.

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