Hong Kong leader warns protesters to vacate tent city

Hong Kong leader warns protesters to vacate tent city
(Image credit: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Saying he would not rule out the use of "minimum force" to clear pro-democracy protesters, Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying told a local television station on Sunday that student leaders had lost control of their movement.

"A mass movement is something easy to start, but difficult to stop," Leung said in an interview reported by Reuters. "No one can direct the direction and pace of this movement. It is now a movement that has lost control."

Hundreds of tents have popped up over the last three weeks along roads leading to Hong Kong's Central financial district. Protesters of all ages are demonstrating against what they say is overreach from China's main government in Hong Kong, nullifying the "one country/two systems" formula that Britain created for the city when it returned the region to China 17 years ago.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Hong Kong officials canceled planned talks with student leaders last week, although Leung said the government was considering their demands.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Sarah Eberspacher

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.