Police action against Hong Kong protesters

Armed with batons and riot gear, police on October 15 cleared a tunnel occupied by the activists. According to the authorities, 45 people were arrested. There were also reports of several injuries on both sides.

The clashes were the most intense since the early days of the pro-democracy protests, which began some two weeks ago. The protesters initially took the authorities by surprise by blocking an important tunnel with tires, bars and concrete slabs. The police managed to clear the site, nevertheless.

According to eyewitness and media reports, the police used excessive force and beat up protesters. Footage from a local television network showed a group of plainclothes officers assaulting a handcuffed and unarmed pro-democracy protester in a Hong Kong public park.

The tunnel on Lung Wo Road is an important east-west artery near the offices of the government and legislature of the megacity. It took the police one hour to regain control of the tunnel.

Once again, hundreds of protesters camped overnight at the three main protest sites: Admiralty and Causeway Bay - located on Hong Kong Island - and the shopping district of Mong Kok on the Kowloon peninsula.

The protests in the semi-autonomous region have now entered their third week. They were triggered by Beijing's insistence that it will vet candidates standing for election as the semi-autonomous city's next leader in 2017. Many Hong Kongers, however, demand "genuine" universal suffrage.

The Hong Kong authorities were expected to meet with representatives of the pro-democracy movement last week to discuss a possible solution to the crisis. But the talks were canceled at the last minute.

In the meantime, the Chinese government in Beijing says it will not budge on Hong Kong. Ever since the protests began two weeks ago, neither Beijing nor the Hong Kong authorities have made any concessions to the pro-democracy movement.