Foreign forces shut up! Let the Chinese settle their domestic issues!                   -- The New Legalist editor

"I don’t support Occupy Central. We have to work and make money..." said a construction worker

"Give us Mong Kok back, we Hong Kongers need to eat!" yelled another man removing the barricades there.


One anti-protester there yelled: "This is not democracy, we need to feed our kids". Spectators cheered barricades being taken away.

Source: news.yahoo.com

An anti-protester (L) shouts at pro-democracy demonstrators in an occupied area of Hong Kong on October 3, 2014 (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)

Hong Kong (AFP) - Opposition groups clashed with pro-democracy protesters in ugly and chaotic scenes in one of Hong Kong’s busiest shopping districts Friday, while the government stepped up its rhetoric against the demonstrations.

Around 200 demonstrators faced off against a much larger group of anti-protesters in Mong Kok after they started to dismantle barricades in an apparent backlash against the demonstrations, which have brought parts of the city to a standstill.

It was not immediately clear whether the anti-protester groups were disgruntled local business people tired of the disruption, or -- as some protesters alleged -- hired hands brought in to stir up trouble.

Pro-democracy groups threatened to call off talks with the Hong Kong government, agreed on Thursday, if the anti-protester attacks were not stopped.

Police tried to hold back angry demonstrators who surrounded the pro-democracy protesters at a junction they had been occupying for five days. Some students backed away toward an underground rail station, while others were driven back by cheering groups.

One small group chanted "I want genuine democracy", while a crowd yelled at them to "Go home!" as police struggled to contain the confrontation.

"I don’t support Occupy Central. We have to work and make money. Occupy is just a game," said a construction worker who gave his name as Mr Lee.

"Give us Mong Kok back, we Hong Kongers need to eat!" yelled another man removing the barricades there.

Individuals from both sides pushed and shoved each other as water bottles were thrown and one anti-Occupy protester chanted: "Beat them to death, good job police!"

Police urged all sides to "stay calm and exercise restraint" in what they described in a statement as a "chaotic situation" in Mong Kok.

"Police are dealing with the situation at the scene and urge the people there to comply with the instructions of the Police officers. Police will take appropriate action to restore public order," the statement said.

There were also confrontations in the busy commercial district of Causeway Bay.

One anti-protester there yelled: "This is not democracy, we need to feed our kids". Spectators cheered barricades being taken away.

- ’Damage to our system’ -

The clashes took place as the city returned to work after a two-day public holiday.

Store owners have told of a massive downturn in business in recent days.

"I supported (the pro-democracy activists) at first but when they escalated their action, they have gone too far," said Janice Lamb, 54, an onlooker in Causeway Bay.

Hong Kong Finance Secretary John Tsang warned that if the unrest persists, the city’s status as one of the world’s most important trading hubs could be under threat.

"If this situation were to persist we’re going to see some damage to our system," he told a press conference.

He added that extended protests could seriously dent "confidence in the market system in Hong Kong -- that would bring permanent damage that we could not afford."

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who is under pressure from protesters to resign, described protesters’ actions as "close to anarchy" in response to an ambulance being blocked from leaving government offices on Friday morning.

Police had to push through demonstrators, saying that a seriously ill officer needed to be let out in an ambulance.

"As a civilised society, we cannot let these incidents continue to happen," he said.

While the United States, Europe and Japan have all expressed their concern at the scenes playing out in one of the world’s leading financial capitals, China insisted that there was "no room to make concessions on important principles".

On August 31, China said Hong Kongers would be able to vote for their next chief executive in 2017 -- but that only candidates vetted by a loyalist committee would be allowed to stand, a decision dismissed as "fake democracy" by campaigners.

Demonstrators had set a midnight Thursday ultimatum for Leung to resign and for Beijing to abandon proposals to vet candidates.

Leung refused to quit but in a dramatic televised appearance shortly before the midnight deadline, he appointed his deputy to sit down with a prominent students’ group that has been at the vanguard of the protests.

There was no sign of the talks starting by Friday afternoon, however. And mistrust was rife that Leung was merely trying to buy time in the hope that the Hong Kong public will tire of the disruption caused by the mass sit-ins, with businesses losing money, schools shut and bus routes severed.

Ex-governor Chris Patten, who brought the curtain down on British rule of Hong Kong in 1997, welcomed the government’s offer to talk with the students.

But in comments to the BBC, he also said: "I think it betrays a rather foolish sense on the side of Beijing that they can’t trust the people of Hong Kong to behave responsibly and sensibly. They can."