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Molotov cocktails against tear gas and water cannons. New clashes took place in Hong Kong this Saturday, September 28 between police and protesters on the sidelines of a large peaceful rally to mark the five years of the umbrella movement. Tens of thousands of people came together to take stock of this first popular revolt that lasted nearly 80 days in 2014. Report.
With our special correspondent in Hong Kong, Vincent Souriau
We are at Tamar Park, 100 meters from the seat of government. Everyone is sitting in the grass, we talk, we listen to the speakers who are passing the microphone. The debate is the record of " Umbrellas ".
A mixed record, says Micky. According to the 25-year-old social worker, the revolt did not materialize politically. But she woke up something to the Hong Kong people:
" We did not get everything we wanted with the Umbrella Revolution. But it's not a failure because it changed Hong Kong. It changed people, it made them aware of the values they wanted to defend. On the method too : how we go from a student strike to an occupation movement. Today we continue and it is an inspiration for us. "
Here, everyone agrees, the movement of umbrellas in 2014, it was a first step, a test ball, unfinished, no doubt. But it served as a catalyst for a whole generation.
" It set a precedent, it showed us that we could do something, we could do more than stay home to moan all the time, " said a young man. The students who are in the street today, they were still schoolboys or high school students, in 2014. The spark is the " Umbrellas " , who opened the way, and just for that, it was a step forward huge. ".
The discussion was to last 2 hours. But the peaceful rally had to be cut short after fresh clashes between police and protesters a few blocks from Tamar Park.
► See also: Hong Kong: five years after the umbrella movement, the revolt continues