Hong Kong braced for fresh reform protest outside government headquarters
Police move in to seize 'offensive' objects from camp outside Legco as 'Long Hair' Leung admits he made up HK$100m figure in vote bribe offer
Hong Kong is bracing itself for a major protest outside government headquarters in Admiralty today - nine months after a mass demonstration at the same venue that sparked last year's Occupy turmoil.
Yesterday, the police - whose image suffered over their handling of 79 days of civil disobedience and street clashes - moved in to seize "offensive" objects kept in a small encampment along Tim Mei Avenue outside the government offices. Wood, glass bottles and a chopper were among items taken away.
The action sent a clear message that law enforcers would adopt a no-nonsense approach to any hint of trouble this time, ahead of a crucial Legislative Council ballot over the government's political reform package.
The day also saw new Commissioner of Police Stephen Lo Wai-chung stress political impartiality among the force, while new groups of named civil servants issued statements of support for the government position, 24 hours after unidentified colleagues took the opposite stance.
In a separate turn of events, radical pan-democratic lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung admitted to the last night that he had "made up" the HK$100 million figure he said had been offered for him to vote "yes".
Give us a number. You won’t have to work for the rest of your life
The arguments over money politics continued when Leung told RTHK earlier in the day that someone had offered him the sum. But he later told the he had made that up to attract media attention, because "so many people have asked me if I really took the money and I need to protect my reputation".
