Hong Kong Protesters Reoccupy Parts of Mong Kok Neighborhood

HONG KONG - Hours after the police successfully cleared one of Hong Kong 's busiest shopping streets of encamped protesters on Wednesday, demonstrators gathered in force again in the Mong Kok neighborhood, only a short distance away.

Late in the evening, hundreds of police officers and demonstrators faced off on Sai Yeung Choi Street, just one block east of Nathan Road, which had been closed to traffic almost continuously for the past two months as protesters settled in a tent city.

In a pattern seen again and again during these protests, the police action during the day was countered by a surge of boisterous demonstrators after darkness fell. Hundreds of people shouted 'I want true universal suffrage' in Cantonese, with their chants echoing off the tall buildings in the area, amplifying their voices. Several people were seen being arrested by police officers.

'They've already cleared the site; I have nowhere else to go,' said Viktor Chu, 26, a leasing officer who was wearing a face mask and safety goggles as he stood with the crowd of protesters on Shantung Street. 'I must come out and show my opinion.'

Mr. Chu said the protesters hoped to retake some part of Mong Kok to continue pressuring the government. The demonstrations began two months ago in response to a decision by China 's legislature to set strict guidelines for elections for Hong Kong's chief executive. Scholars and pro-democracy advocates say the rules ensure that only people approved by Beijing will be allowed to appear on the ballot.

'The occupation is only a means to a goal,' Mr. Chu said. 'We're not just here to occupy something. We're occupying something to give pressure to the government.'

The streets filled with the protesters are lined with stores catering to mainland tourists, particularly jewelry shops and pharmacies.

The protesters, in a nod to the commercial significance of the location, chanted 'Shopping! Shopping!' in Mandarin after the police demanded to know why they were there.

The animosity of the protesters toward the police grew in mid-October when a television crew filmed officers kicking and beating one demonstrator, Ken Tsang. On Wednesday, the police said they had arrested seven officers suspected of carrying out the assault.