Hong Kong: student leaders call off talks with government

The scuffles broke out a day after Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying agreed to open talks with pro-democracy protesters but refused to stand down. He and his Chinese government backers made clear that they would not back down in the face of the city’s worst unrest in decades.

The Hong Kong Federation of Students, which was invited to negotiations on Wednesday, said in a statement it had “shelved” the talks. A time and place for the negotiations had never been confirmed.

“The government allowed the mafia to attack peaceful occupy participants. It has cut off the path to a dialogue, and should be responsible for the consequences,” it said.

Numbers dwindled at some protest sites in and around the central financial district as rain fell on Friday and as Hong Kong people returned to work after a two-day holiday.

But in Mong Kok about 1,000 Beijing supporters clashed with about 100 protesters – mainly students – spitting and throwing water bottles in a side-show to the main protest movement. Police formed a human chain to separate the two groups amid the wail of sirens.

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