Hong Kong Leader Agrees to New Talks After Video of Protester Beating
[There was a video here]
Hong Kong's Beijing-approved chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, has agreed to new talks with the student protesters occupying major thoroughfares of the city on the heels of a viral video of plainclothes police officers beating handcuffed activist Ken Tsang. "As long as students or other sectors in Hong Kong are prepared to focus on this issue, yes we are ready, we are prepared to start the dialogue," Leung told reporters.
As the protesters' fight for Beijing to rescind its edict that candidates in Hong Kong's public elections first be approved by the state extends into its third week, tension between demonstrators and police have boiled over into violence. Tsang was handcuffed and carried away by seven police officers before being beaten. Police using pepper spray and batons on protesters were reported Thursday.
The United States has called for a probe of Tsang's beating by police. The officers involved have since been suspended. Tsang was involved with a group of protesters in a two-night battle with police to occupy a usually busy road outside a government building; 45 were arrested by police the night he was beaten, TIME reports.
Officials on behalf of Leung called off a meeting between the government and protest leaders last week, apparently under the presumption that they would prove fruitless. But even as Leung has motioned a seemingly renewed willingness to speak with protesters, it comes with a chilling warning.
"This is very important: dialogue and clearing the protests are two separate things," Leung told reporters. "We won't refrain from clearing the sites because of dialogue, nor will we refrain from dialogue because of [plans] to clear the sites."
