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DEMOCRACY
Hong Kong 'Occupy hotel' recreates protest camp for guests
by Staff Writers
Hong Kong (AFP) Dec 24, 2014


Hong Kong police arrest democracy protestors after clash
Hong Kong (AFP) Dec 25, 2014 - Hong Kong police said Thursday they had arrested a dozen pro-democracy protesters after a night of clashes in the first sizeable rally since the last protest camp was cleared last week.

Police used pepper spray and batons to disperse hundreds of protesters who crowded the pavements Christmas Eve and at times rushed into traffic on major roads in Mongkok district.

"They caused chaos and blocked roads," police said in a statement.

"Police arrested 10 men and two women, aged between 13 and 43," the statement said, adding they were detained for assaulting police officers, obstructing a police officer and disorderly conduct, among other charges.

News footage showed protesters, one of whom had a bloodied head, being pressed to the ground by several officers. Police said two officers were injured in the operation which lasted into the small hours of Christmas Day.

Mongkok was the scene of some of the most violent clashes during two months of sit-in protests which occupied major roads in Hong Kong.

Protesters in the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay, where the last protest site was cleared on December 15, raised yellow crosses and umbrellas as they sang Christmas carols and yelled: "Our Christmas wish is that I want real universal suffrage".

Protesters occupied stretches of some main highways for more than two months from September 28, calling for fully free leadership elections in 2017 after Beijing said candidates for chief executive must first be vetted by a loyalist committee.

The city's embattled leader Leung Chun-ying Thursday made his first visit to the Chinese capital since the sit-ins ended to deliver an annual report.

"One of the main points would be related to me and the government's determination to achieve elections for the chief executive in 2017... I believe that the determination of the central authorities has not changed," Leung said before his trip.

Pro-democracy campaigners are still making their voices heard despite the clearances. Large banners have appeared on landmarks and pop-up markets sell movement memorabilia, in addition to smaller protest gatherings.

Hong Kong's pro-democracy protest camps may have been swept away but one man has recreated a rally site as an Occupy hotel -- where guests now pay to spend the night in a tent.

Set up in a small apartment in the Causeway Bay shopping district, which was previously home to one of three protest camps, visitors pay HK$100 ($13) to stay in one of two small tents surrounded by protest memorabilia.

The walls are draped with pro-democracy banners, and a cardboard cutout of Chinese President Xi Jinping holding a yellow umbrella -- the symbol of the pro-democracy movement -- dominates the room.

When nature calls, guests will find the face of the city's embattled leader Leung Chun-ying printed on the toilet paper.

"I want people who missed out on the chance to 'occupy' because they were too busy or they were in another country to come in and stay in the tents," said Stephen Thompson, 50, a British freelance writer who has lived in Hong Kong for eight years.

"When it finished I didn't want it to end," added Thompson, who calls his 'hotel' the "Umbrella Revolution Occupation Experience".

"It (the umbrella movement) was an achievement in itself, whether or not universal suffrage was achieved."

Protesters occupied stretches of some of Hong Kong's main highways for more than two months from September 28, calling for free leadership elections after China said candidates for chief executive in 2017 would first be vetted by a loyalist committee.

Hundreds of tents sprawled across major roads as the protest sites became entrenched camps complete with supply stalls, study areas and artwork.

Causeway Bay was the last remaining site to be cleared last week.

"People like to be reminded of their dreams and ideals so I think people are more than happy to spend a little bit of money for that," said Thompson, who lives separately on one of Hong Kong's outlying islands.

The makeshift hotel opened last week and guests are booked in from all over the world, he said, including from mainland China.

One current guest, who identified himself as Allen D from San Francisco, said he was staying there because he supports "revolutionary spirit" and was "in awe" of Hong Kong's protesters.

The 26-year-old, who is travelling the world and camped at the protest sites after arriving in Hong Kong in November, found Thompson's replica through online accommodation site Airbnb.com

Pro-democracy campaigners are still making their voices heard around the city, with large banners appearing on landmarks and pop-up markets selling movement memorabilia, as well as smaller protest gatherings.


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DEMOCRACY
Umbrellas banned during China's Presidential visit to Macau
Macau, Macau (AFP) Dec 19, 2014
President Xi Jinping visited a drizzly Macau on Friday for the 15th anniversary of the gambling hub's return to Chinese rule, with onlookers barred from using umbrellas - the emblem of democracy protests in nearby Hong Kong. The two-day trip to the former Portuguese enclave comes just days after Hong Kong police cleared the last of three camps where protesters had spent nearly three months ... read more


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