Hong Kong | Most people want pro-democracy protests to end now

Police officers stand near a barricade at the intersection of Nathan Road and Argyle Street in Mong Kok

Most Hong Kong people have grown weary of pro-democracy protests that have sparked clashes with police and disrupted the city for almost two months, and want the government to take action to end them, a poll showed.
About 68 percent of 513 respondents said the government should clear the protesters immediately, according to a survey conducted by the University of Hong Kong Nov. 17-18.
Public support for the demonstrations, which at their peak saw tens of thousands of people in the streets, is waning after crowds dwindled, attempts to negotiate with the government failed and the movement’s leaders failed to agree on strategy. The protests, the most disruptive since China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, were sparked by Beijing’s decision to screen candidates through a committee for the city’s leadership election in 2017.
Hong Kong police will help clear protest sites in the Mong Kok district as soon as preparations are complete, Police Chief Superintendent Hui Chun-tak said at a press briefing Wednesday.
Police will take “resolute action” against anyone interfering with bailiffs, and will not tolerate any violence, Hui said. Mong Kok was the scene of some of the fiercest clashes during the protests for free elections.
A small group of protesters smashed through a glass door of the Legislative Council building in the Admiralty district early Wednesday, using metal barricades and concrete blocks. Police used pepper spray to repel other people who charged at them. Protest leaders and pro-democracy lawmakers condemned the break-in.
The clash is another sign the movement is splintering, with pro-democracy lawmakers and student leaders unable to restrain the demonstrators.
“The use of violence is definitely against the umbrella movement’s emphasis as that of using peaceful, non-violent means to fight for full democracy,” Alan Leong, leader of the pro-democracy Civic Party, said Wednesday in a briefing with other legislators. “It seriously undermines” the movement.
Tam Yiu Chung, Chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, a pro-establishment party, said in a separate briefing the break-in shows the movement is “totally bankrupt” and the “warped thinking” they don’t have to obey the law.
Hong Kong has assured investors the city can withstand the protests, said K.C. Chan, secretary for financial services.
“International investors have voiced some concerns,” Chan said on Bloomberg TV. “We have been explaining to international investors that what’s going on here is definitely an incident that the Hong Kong government has every means to deal with.” Vinicy Chan , Bloomberg