Police swoop on massive pro-democracy rally in Hong Kong

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Scores of protesters at a Hong Kong sit-in were forcibly removed by police in the early hours of Wednesday following a massive pro-democracy rally which organisers said saw a turnout of over half a million.

Hundreds of protesters had staged a sit-in on a street in the city's Central district and vowed to stay until 8:00 am (0000 GMT). But just after 3:00 am police began to move in and load them onto coaches.

Some went willingly but those that remained linked arms and refused to leave, many of them lying down, as police announced they would use "necessary force" unless they boarded "designated vehicles".

Groups of officers then began to cordon off and physically remove protesters, carrying them from the site.

A police tannoy said that all those remaining were under arrest for causing "obstruction and danger to road users" and for unauthorised assembly.

Police were not immediately able to confirm how many people had been arrested.

The confrontation followed a largely peaceful rally Tuesday, which organisers said was a record turnout and the largest since the city was handed back to China in 1997.

Waving colonial-era flags and chanting anti-Beijing slogans, protesters demanded democratic reforms, reflecting surging discontent over Beijing's insistence that it vet candidates before a vote in 2017 for the semi-autonomous city's next leader.

The chairman of the Hong Kong post office union, marching in the muggy heat, said the city's government was kowtowing to Beijing.

"This march is not for us, it's for our children. Without universal suffrage there's no way to monitor the government," said Ip Kam-fu.