Students Storm Government Complex in Hong Kong: Police Use Force to Disperse Them

Dozens of students broke through the gates of government head quarters in Hong Kong Friday, amid ongoing protests against China's refusal to implement democratic reforms.

Riot police arrested six people for forcible entry and damage to property but around 200 demonstrators refused to budge from the surrounding grounds of the complex.

Even use of pepper spray by the police did not deter them as  they used umbrellas, goggles and face masks to ward off the cops, reports Agence France Presse.

The riot police, wearing helmets and carrying shields, arrived in the early hours of Saturday. They held placards warning "stop charging or we will use force".

The crowd had swelled to nearly 2000 by Saturday morning when even school children joined the university students outside the gates of the complex.

"Our movement is peaceful and does not use aggression," said University of Hong Kong students' union president Yvonne Leung, reports the Associated Press. "Students who decided to storm inside (the government complex) knew about their legal responsibility."

A government statement expressed regret about the protesters storming the government complex and said that both the police and demonstrators  had suffered injuries, reports AFP.  

The students are a part of a strong civil disobedience movement protesting China's  move to vet what candidates can stand for the chief executive elections. The  students are demanding China's Communist leaders organize democratic elections in 2017.

There already is an ongoing Occupy Central movement demanding more freedom from Chinese authority and interference in the erstwhile British colony, which came under China's rule in 1997.