Hong Kong arrests 231 in anti-govt demo

Hong Kong police arrested 231 people and used pepper spray during a demonstration by tens of thousands angered at government policies and soaring property prices, officials said Saturday. Organisers said up to 218,000 people took to the streets Friday, the 14th anniversary of the former British colony's return to China, to vent frustration at a slew of issues including a controversial plan to scrap by-elections. Police estimated the crowd at 54,000 and said some protesters refused to disperse after the march ended and were detained for illegal assembly and causing obstruction in public places. Television news footage showed police using pepper spray in attempts to disperse the demonstrators following a standoff which lasted a few hours as the group refused to leave. Some were later forcibly removed, handcuffed and carried into police trucks after scuffling with police. "To restore peace and social order, as well as to guarantee public safety and to let the normal traffic resume, police decided to act and arrest the protesters," the police said in a statement. The 231 were released after having their details recorded, a police spokesman told AFP. Out of the 231, 52 were released on police bail. Such arrests are rare in Hong Kong, which was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 but retains a semi-autonomous status with civil liberties -- including the right to protest -- not enjoyed in mainland China. "The demonstrators were very peaceful. They were just having a sit-in protest to make their demands heard," outspoken lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, who was among those arrested, told AFP. "I don't think there is any reason for the arrests," he added. Organisers have said the huge turnout at the rally, one of the biggest in recent years, was mainly due to a controversial government proposal to scrap by-elections if a seat is vacant and instead fill it based on previous results. The proposal has been widely criticised by lawmakers and the legal professional body as infringing on voters' basic rights. Analysts have warned that the current level of dissatisfaction with the government is close to the levels in 2003, when a record 500,000 people took part in the annual pro-democracy march that year. The unexpected show of people power at the 2003 march forced the government to shelve a controversial national security bill and was a key factor for the unpopular then chief executive Tung Chee-hwa to step down the following year.