OCCUPY CENTRAL - NIGHT SEVEN: Full coverage of the night's events
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 04 October, 2014, 7:22pm
UPDATED : Monday, 06 October, 2014, 7:45am
Early morning in Mong Kok. Photo: Dickson Lee
Good morning and welcome to our continuing 24-hour Occupy Central coverage.
Sporadic clashes have continued throughout the night in Mong Kok, as protesters gathered in their thousands in Admiralty. Hundreds of demonstrators are staying put in Causeway Bay, where the situation has calmed down.
A tense night followed Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's stark warning that government offices and schools "must" reopen by Monday after former pan-democrat lawmaker Cheung Man-Kwong warned that Occupy is in a "very dangerous situation" that has to be resolved “in a very short period of time".
Pan-democrat lawmakers have called earlier violence in Mong Kokan orchestrated attack by the government and triad gangs on demonstrators.
Follow all the latest from Occupy Central here.
7.43am: Several coaches and vans carrying an estimated 250 police officers arrive at the Chief Executive's office for the shift handover.
7.37am: More on the wedding proposal in occupied Mong Kok:
Yau Chi-hang, 22, got on his knees and proposed to his sweetheart Crystal Chan. Her answer, a resounding yes, drew cheers from the crowd. In unison, they chanted "Leung Chun-ying step down" and "real universal suffrage". Asked about children, the young couple said: "We hope our next generation won't have to be occupying the streets as they'll have true universal suffrage."
7.32am: As the day breaks, protesters have started leaving Admiralty, but over 1,000 still remain.
Among those who are still staying is Leo Cheung, a lecturer at Hong Kong Academy for Performance Arts. He just spent his ninth night here.
"It's an enjoyment to be here. Here in Admiralty, you can find a more humane Hong Kong where people are helping each other out every minute," says Cheung. "There is no noise from traffic, but birds singing. You see trees, you live a way slower pace of life ... it's beautiful," he says. "It gives people an opportunity to experience the preciousness of public space."
Cheung said he would stay until the very end to fight for an equal and democratic electoral system. "When most of the students are still fighting here, how could I hide myself at home?" he said.
7.15am: The heads of the two medical schools in the city visit Admiralty to appeal to students helping at first aid stations to retreat.
Professor Francis Chan Ka-leung, from Chinese University, says: “To leave here at this moment does not mean failure or giving up. We have a long way to go. I hope students can make their own safety the top priority.”
Professor Gabriel Leung, from University of Hong Kong, says: “Fighting for any cause in life is a relay race. Winning or losing hinges on one moment of thought, depending on whether you know when to pass and take the baton."
7.01am: The crowd in Mong Kok cheers following what appears to be an improvised wedding proposal. She said yes. The couple decide to celebrate with a fish fillet burger.
Asked about children, they tell reporters: "Our next generation won't be occupying the streets, they'll have real universal suffrage."
6.57am: Crowd estimates from reporters on the ground:
Admiralty: more than 1,000
Mong Kok: 600 - 800
Causeway Bay: 100
Outside Chief Executive Office: less than 100
6.51am: Services of 35 bus routes have been suspended and 133 routes have been diverted on Sunday because of traffic blockades, according to City Bus and New World First Bus. One extra route, 82M, will run between Siu Sai Wan and Chai Wan between 10am and 10pm on Sunday.
6.31am: Police units previously blocking a section of Argyle Street and Shanghai Street in Mong Kok have left, freeing up traffic on both streets.
About a dozen police officers remain across the road to keep protesters in the Argyle Street protest area.
6.28am: The city's Sunday newspapers:
6.10am: Police senior superintendent Patrick Kwok Pak-Chung says pepper spray was used on the crowd at the Mong Kok police station because the crowd was big, emotional and "verbally abusive".
He declined to answer questions on a police officer caught on tape verbally abusing a man and asking him kneel down in Mong Kok. When asked about a video capturing a group of around 10 police officers surrounding a man who told them to turn off their police car engine, also in Mong Kok, Kwok says that he will not comment on individual cases.
"There are comprehensive guidelines to follow on the use of force," says Kwok. He is speaking at a press conference at Police Headquarters in Wan Chai.
Kwok says extra police officers had been transferred to Mong Kok on Saturday to prevent serious clashes. However, at least six more clashes occurred last night, with the police using batons once and pepper spray once.
6.06am: Tensions appear to have subsided in Mong Kok.
Earlier in the night, two police platoons surrounded a man who allegedly attacked an officer.
Superintendent Steven Tait, assistant district commander for operations in Mong Kok, tells the Post police had been surrounded by "more than a thousand protesters" and were "unable to leave".
"We called in reinforcements, the reinforcements came, and they will leave [the junction of Shanghai Street and Argyle Street] as soon as the situation is obviously more calm," he says.
5.55am: Daybreak: More than 1,000 people spent the night and braved rain showers at Harcourt Road. Some 150 protesters are still outside the chief executive's office.
5.48am: The officer injured earlier this morning was hit with a mobile phone and not a stone, as first thought, a police officer tells the Post.
5.46am: The People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's main newspaper, continues to denounce the protests in its Sunday edition. The articles' headlines:
"Disrupting social order - trampling on the rule of law"; "Promote Hong Kong's future under a rule of law consensus"; "Occupy Central has caused serious harm to the public's interests"; "Occupy Central chaos difficult to bare - opposing voices speak out one after another"
5.38am: About 250 police officers are on duty in Mong Kok, a senior police officer tells the Post.
5.27am: A police spokesman urges protesters in Mong Kok to remain calm and stay peaceful. "We hope everyone can leave the area of Shanghai Street and Reclamation Street to allow vehicles to pass," he tells the crowd by loudspeaker.
5.14am: In a speech in the United Kingdom, former Chief Secretary Anson Chan said that Britain has a "legal and moral responsibility" to stand by Hong Kong.
"Surely you can have trade with China and at the same time act honourably and tell China in no uncertain terms, 'we take our treaty obligations very, very seriously'," she said, according to a report by the Press Association.
5.09am: Two trucks arrive on Lung Wo Road to bring breakfast for police at Tamar Government Headquarters.
The trucks park about 70 metres from the chief executive's office. Several plain-clothes policemen transport food and water on big trolleys. A senior officer open boxes on each trolley to show protesters that they are not smuggling in equipment.
5.01am: A senior police officer in Mong Kok tells the Post that the protest site there would not be forcibly cleared in the coming hours. "Absolutely no clearout of Mong Kok tonight," he says. Meanwhile, scuffles continue on Dundas Street and near Langham Place.
5.00am: Some excerpts from our print coverage on Occupy Central in theSunday Morning Post:
"A stark warning was issued last night that Hong Kong is on the brink of a "tragedy" unless mainly student democracy protesters clear the streets and unblock the heart of the city's government."
"I have no regrets. If I hadn't used it, and they had come through, we could have ended up with seriously injured or worse," he said, referring to a mass crush in 1992 in Lan Kwai Fong that left 21 people dead.
"Any intention among a small number of people to hold a colour revolution on the mainland through Hong Kong would be a daydream," it said.
A woman has alleged that she and other female pro-democracy activists were sexually assaulted by a man opposing the Occupy movement in Causeway Bay on Friday - and that police did nothing about it.
"It seems homebuyers and investors are not necessarily associating their investment decisions with the current political instability," said Louis Chan Wing-kit, managing director of residential sales at Centaline Property.
4.50am: The situation appears to have calmed down in Mong Kok, Postreporters say.
4.44am: Here is a video recording of crowds gathering at Admiralty on Saturday evening by the Post's Aidan Mac Guill:
4.39am: Police in Mong Kok have formed human chain squares to block Argyle Street's intersections with Shanghai Street and Reclamation Street. Some officers carry shields, but are not wearing the heavy riot gear seen last Sunday.
4.28am: Post reporters on the ground estimate about 100 police officers and between 1,000 and 1,500 protesters are on Mong Kok's streets.
4.22am: A Post reporter has spotted one policeman sitting on the ground in Mong Kok and crying. Video footage suggests he had been mistakenly pepper-sprayed by a colleague.
4.08am: Meanwhile in Admiralty, volunteers hand out rain ponchos as the heavens open. About 300 protesters are gathering outside the chief executive's office there.
Two students tell the Post how they think the city has been changed by the protests.
"This is very good for civic education," says Thomas Leong, acting president of City University's students' union council. "I felt that many Hongkongers used to express their view only on the internet, but this time they came out to vent their concerns about the city's core values."
"We may end up not winning anything, but at least the people's heart has changed and people are [more aware] that Hong Kong is different from the mainland ... and we are not assimilating with them," Leong says.
Chan Wai-hung, a third-year management sciences student at City University, says he has argued with his father who opposes civil disobedience and the students' class boycott. "Many people used to think that Hong Kong is okay, it's peaceful, but they now realise that this city is in fact problematic," he says.
3.57am: Police have formed two human chains to separate the cheering crowds in Mong Kok. In between the two chains, officers hold up a yellow warning sign: "Police Cordon. Do not cross."
3.52am: Police have used pepper spray in Mong Kok against a demonstrator, video footage suggests.
— Benjamin (@Garvey_B) October 4, 2014
3.45am: Click here to watch our video round-up of speeches by protest leaders in Admiralty on Saturday evening.
3.22am: Professor Peter Mathieson, vice-chancellor and president of the University of Hong Kong, called on the university's students and staff to leave all protest areas.
"I am making this appeal from my heart because I genuinely believe that if you stay, there is a risk to your safety," he wrote in his message, released at 1.45am. "Please leave now: you owe it to your loved ones to put your safety above all other considerations."
3.17am: One policeman was assaulted, hit on the head by a stone in Mong Kok, a fellow police officer tells the Post.
3.05am: The atmosphere in Mong Kok is heating up again after a group of Occupy protesters complain to police that several attackers have been let go. Officers form two layers of human chains and escort several men to a police vehicle. It is unclear why they are being taken away.
Meanwhile, police said they have released the remaining eight of the 20 men arrested in Mong Kok earlier for fighting in a public place, unlawful assembly and assault. The eight men are on bail and are required to report back to police next month.
A Post reporter saw police handcuffing two young protesters and taking them away earlier on Sunday.
2.53am: In Admiralty, a dozen demonstrators are busy cleaning up garbage left outside the Tamar Government Headquarters. They separate the waste into containers for plastic, paper, tin cans and food waste.
Qing Lam, who initiated the clean-up, says flies are everywhere as sanitary conditions have worsened after several days of occupation.
"People tend to buy an extra portion of food to support their friends or other protesters," she said. "Sometimes, many of us just do not have the appetite, especially when we are physically and mentally exhausted from all the news about police deployment."
2.37am: The Sunday Morning Post is being printed and will soon be distributed across the city. Here is today's front-page:
2.11am: In Beijing, the Sunday papers are predictably critical of demonstrations in Hong Kong. The Beijing Youth Daily says a total of 19 people have been detained over scuffles during the Occupy Central protests. The Beijing Times says "many political groups" have called on demonstrators to stop their actions.
2.00am: Next Media boss Jimmy Lai and lawmakers Leung "Long Hair" Kwok-hung and Albert Ho make brief appearances in Mong Kok.
1.45am: Chinese University anthropologist Gordon Mathews shares his thoughts from the Mong Kok stand-off on Facebook:
"A woman apparently in her forties was arguing against the protesters saying that, 'After all, we’re all Chinese in our blood! Why can’t we all recognize this?' The protesters, mostly in their twenties, cried out in unison, 'We’re not Chinese. We’re Hongkongers!' Then they looked at each other in disbelief… This may sum up a critical generational difference: after the handover, young Hongkongers were supposed to be trained to become Chinese, but many have moved in their feelings in the exact opposite direction. The degree of mutual incomprehension in this discussion was extraordinary."
1.32am: In Admiralty, about 600 people continue to stage their sit-in outside the Chief Executive's Office. One of them, who asks to be identified as Mr Fung, says he does not expect police would forcibly remove demonstrators in the early hours of Sunday. "If the police take action in the morning, more people will come out in the afternoon," the 24-year old says. In Causeway Bay, a few hundred more demonstrators sit near Yee Wo Street.
1.25am: After a series of tense stand-offs and scuffles, the situation has calmed at the rally site in Mong Kok. Around 1am, a police officer addressed the crowd of about 1,000 saying some of the officers at the scene would be removed.
"To express our sincerity, we've decided to withdraw part of our officers," he said through a loudspeaker. "We hope there will be no more physical conflict. We hope everyone remains peaceful. If you support us, please give us some applause."
The statement is followed by cheering and clapping.
Meanwhile, pro-democracy protester William Chow, who has spent the last two days at the Mong Kok site, says: "I feel very scared," but insists he will remain on the streets until the political impasse is solved.
1.13am: A quick reminder of the Post's editorial on Saturday:
"Paralysing Hong Kong is no way to achieve goals. Negotiations are the only way forward. The talks have to be widened beyond students to other groups. It's regrettable that the meeting was called off, but we still believe that only through dialogue can consensus be built and our city move forward."
Read The Guardian's editorial here, the New York Times' here, theWashington Post's here, the Toronto Star's here, the Courier-Mail's in Australia here.
Here is a commentary China's state-run Xinhua news agency released on Saturday evening: "Hongkongers' free will shall not be held hostage to protesters."
12.53am: A senior police source tells the Post: "Police do not have plans to clear the crowd outside the Chief Executive’s Office tonight, judging from the current situation. Unless there is a sudden attempt to crash into the office complex, police do not have clearance plans at all."
12.45am: The situation is less tense in Causeway Bay, where demonstrator Anthony Cheong Yan-Ting celebrates his 29th birthday after spending the entire week there.
"I originally took the week off work to celebrate my birthday," said Cheong."I'm happy to have like-minded people celebrating with me today; but I'm sad that the government has made me spend my birthday on the streets."
12.38am: The Federation of Students Secretary-General Alex Chow Yong-kang says the Federation is willing to start talks immediately if its conditions are met.
The Federation added one more item to its list of conditions for talks with the government: Police must properly handle conflicts among protesters in all areas.
It stressed that the Occupy movement is “absolutely not a revolution”, rather a movement initiated by Hong Kong's civil society.
12.30am: The situation continues to be tense in Mong Kong, where scuffles between pro-democracy protesters and opponents of the almost week-long occupation continue.
12.18am: The Federation of Students lists two conditions for its return to the negotiation table with the government in a statement.
Firstly, the government has to promise to thoroughly investigate accusations that police “indulged thugs” and enforced the law selectively duringthe last few days.
Secondly, the Federation will only talk to Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and other members of her task force — rather than open a direct dialogue with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
“Leung has repeatedly ignored public opinion and used police to violently suppress peaceful protesters,” their statement says. “As long as the government shows sincerity and responds to these two demands, students will be willing to enter into talks.”
The Federation earlier called off negotiations with Lam after police allegedly ignored thugs who attacked Occupy protesters in Mong Kok on Friday.
11.39pm: Actor Anthony Wong Chau-sang addresses the crowd in Admiralty via long-distance phone call. He says the use of violence to suppress the protest would backfire.
"Peace and non-violence have long been the core values of Hong Kong," he says. "I think [the movement] is not only fighting for genuine universal suffrage, it is also about safeguarding Hong Kong's values."
11.19pm: Benny Tai speaking to protesters in Admiralty, addresses the government's concerns that civil servants might not be able to go to work on Monday. He says the main groups - Occupy Central, Scholarism and the Federation of Students - agree not to obstruct civil servants from going to work.
"We have heard many rumours that the site may be cleared tonight," he tells supporters. "Civic servants are also Hongkongers, we only target CY Leung."
Tai says current protests are not a "colour revolution", but a movement of Hongkongers demanding a fair election system.
10.40pm: In an extremely stern warning to protesters, Democratic Party member and Hong Kong University associate professor Dr Law Chi-kwong says “things could turn drastic within the next couple of hours” and he is “begging everyone I know to leave”.
"This is very likely my last email to all of you,” he writes in an email obtained by the Post.
“When the students say no to talk, they have removed their last line of protection. Things can turn very drastic within the next couple of hours. I am begging everyone I know to leave, at least staying away from the West Gate of CGO [government headquarters at Admiralty].
“I believe no one in HK can stop what may happen in the next couple of hours. I beg with tears."
10.31pm: Whoever said that protesters aren't fashionable?
10.25pm: The atmosphere at the mass Admiralty rally remains positive, with pro-democracy singers performing new songs to encourage demonstrators and people cheering.
However, in a serious tone, Council of Social Services Chief Executive Chua Hoi-wai appeals for students to talk to the government as he addresses the audience:
"This may not be what you want to hear. If [the Federation of Students, Scholarism and Occupy Central] assess at a point of time that the situation has gone to its limit and that our action may have to be suspended, please, considering your safety, follow their appeal
“I urge the Federation of Students to reconsider negotiation with the government.”
10.20pm: The police and the mobs who attacked protesters in Mong Kok last night are coming under fire at the campaign's major assembly in Admiralty, where tens of thousands are gathered.
"At the Mong Kok protest site, peaceful protesters were attacked. We strongly condemn the attackers and demand that the police, as public servants, do not fold their arms," says political scientist Benson Wong Wai-kwok as he read out on the stage a statement signed by an unspecified number of academics.
Here is a recap of the violence last night.
10.15pm: The protests may be causing great inconvenience to many in Mong Kok but some people are not letting the demonstrations stop them from having fun.
Street performers are dotted along the road at the pedestrian precinct in Sai Yeung Choi Street South – just a block away from the scene of the occupation protests – entertaining passersby with songs and dancing.
“Life is hard enough,” says Mong Kok resident Peter Chen. “It's Saturday night. I would rather enjoy some free entertainment here than listening to the noisy debates on Occupy Central out there.”
10.10pm: Protesters in Causeway Bay are sitting down on the pavement watching large screens showing … the rally in Admiralty.
The only thing missing is popcorn.
9.45pm: Speakers on the stage in Admiralty again ask the crowd to raise their mobile phones with torchlights on, creating a sea of lights.
Emotions continue to run high.
9.30pm: Several former US Consuls General to Hong Kong have tonight written an open letter to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
In it, they say they want to show their support for dialogue between pro-democracy demonstrators and the government and express their hope that the people of Hong Kong will work out election procedures that “better meet the needs of your great city”.
9.10pm Admiralty is positively teeming with students. The smartphone "candles" are in the air as a female vocalist sings a ballad of the Umbrella Movement on stage.
Watch: Thousands gather in Admiralty for pro-democracy speeches: Occupy Central day 7
9pm: It’s largely quiet at the Lung Wo Road entrance to the chief executive’s office, apart from a taxi that has accidentally bumped into a metal fence put up by protesters.
Despite the message from Dr Law Chi-Kwong, which warned students to leave the assembly in Admiralty, some 100 young protesters here are sitting on the ground and looking relaxed while cheers from the crowds 500 metres away can be clearly heard.
8.55pm: Students let out a deafening roar when the speaker in Admiralty thanks international media for "protecting us from the government".
"Welcome to Hong Kong," he says to a raucous reaction.
8.50pm: A woman who does not give her name tells the Admiralty occupiers what she experienced in Mong Kok last night.
"A group of fierce men and women pushed down our canopies and snatched our supplies. I was afraid they might hurt the students. But the students told me 'don't be afraid, auntie. Even if they sexually harass you, we will stand together and protect you'."
8.45pm: Emotion runs high in Admiralty as the night rally starts, with witnesses of violence taking turn to address the thousands sitting on Harcourt Road, to give accounts of what they experienced in Mong Kok.
"I was helping out in Causeway Bay last night. A group of masked gangsters suddenly barged in at around 8pm, kicking our canopy and hitting people ... They tried to attack me, but I handled it with ease," says a male student who gives his surname as Lau, telling the audience how his practice of martial arts had helped him fend off attacks.
"Then a police officer pulled me from the back and told me to calm down. In fact if I wasn't calm, he would have died already," he says as the crowd laughs.
"Peace! Peace" the crowd chants.
8.41pm: Police give themselves a round of applause outside government headquarters in Admiralty, as fresh officers are brought into the government offices to replace those finished for the night.
Every police officer has riot gear at the ready. Some students boo the departing officers on Tim Wa Avenue, but for the most part the police movement goes unnoticed.
8.40pm: Some 500 protesters and onlookers have gathered around the protest stage in Mong Kok, while Occupy Central protesters are clustered along Nathan Road and Argyle Street.
Some are discussing the possible next step of the protest. Others continue to argue with the anti-Occupy camp, whose presence doesn’t appear very strong at the moment.
Legislator Raymond Wong Hung-chiu arrived at around 8pm to visit protesters. He asks them to stay united and stay put.
"If the size of the crowds are big enough, there’s no way the police can evict us," Wong says, addressing those on Nathan Road.
"I shall ask fellow pan-democrats to launch a campaign to boycott government polices and bills in Legco. We shall paralyse Leung Chun-ying’s governance."
8.35pm: Executive Councillor Bernard Chan has posted a photo of himself holding a sign calling for peace and "no bloodshed" while in London, in response to a request by think-tank 30SGROUP, of which he is a consultant.
"I am very saddened to see the violence. Both sides of Occupy and anti-Occupy should calm down and return to talks," he said, noting that Occupy protesters have lost trust in police.
He says he had not received updates about the clearance of the protest zones since he is out of town.
8.31pm: Things are much livelier in Admiralty, however …
8.25pm: Some 300 protesters are gathered at Causeway Bay.
The Post's Kathy Gao says the scene is quiet, although students volunteers at the scene have discussed what to do if violence occurs tonight.
8.18pm: There’s going to be a very big crowd in Admiralty tonight, if this tweet is anything to go by …
8.17pm: Things seem calm in Mong Kok, according to the Post’s video team …
7.25pm: Former Democratic Party lawmaker Law Chi-Kwong is urging the public not to go to the assembly in Admiralty tonight, saying that if they do, they must be well prepared for government action.
Law warns that the government might take action to disperse the crowds "no later than tomorrow – or even earlier".
"When Leung Chun-ying spoke to the press on Thursday night, he said that no government could tolerate its headquarters to be besieged or its operation to be paralysed," Law tells the Post.
"It's already a clear message that having dialogue was a condition for the government not to take further action.
"When the students made the speeches this afternoon to restate their position, I can imagine the situation is already in a critical stage”
Law says the outcome of tonight's assembly in Admiralty would be crucial in deciding how the situation will develop.
7.18pm: The Heads of Universities Committee issues another statement to appeal to students to leave all Occupy rally areas and put safety first.
"In view of the escalating violence in several districts and the suspension of dialogue between the government and students, the committee is extremely worried about the present situation," the statement says.
"We condemn the violence used in the past few days and call on the government and university students' representatives to reinitiate a dialogue immediately to find solutions."
7.15pm: Two anti-Occupy demonstrators have arrived in Causeway Bay.
One is wearing the uniform of the red guards – the mass paramilitary organisation mobilised by Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution – the other a national flag.
7.10pm: The Chinese University issues an announcement to all students to strongly condemn all violent behaviour.
The announcement says the situation in the rallying districts has been "very unstable" and calls for all students and staff at the scenes to leave as soon as possible to prevent danger and keep their own safety.
The university has set up a 24-hour hotline to provide help to students. It has also arranged for Professor Simon Ng Siu-man of the Faculty of Medicine and other medical staff to provide medical services.
Professor Freedom Leung Yiu-kin of the department of psychology and professional counsellors at the Office of Student Affairs will also provide psychological counselling services.
The university has also arranged several lawyer alumni to provide legal counselling for students.
The hotline number is 5372-9925
7.05pm: A volunteer tells protesters what to do if police use pepper spray and tear gas amid rumours that the government is going to take action tonight.
Another volunteer demonstrates how to wash away pepper spray from the eyes.
7pm: A quick recap of today’s events …
*Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has given a stark warning that government offices and schools “must reopen” by Monday. Leung says that if the conflict between pro- and anti- Occupy Central groups continues, it would be "very likely to keep going out of hand".
*Former pan-democrat lawmaker Cheung Man-Kwong has warned that Occupy is in a "very dangerous situation" that has to be resolved “in a very short period of time".
*Pan-democrat lawmakers have called last night's violence in Mong Kok an orchestrated attack by the government and triad gangs on demonstrators. Eighteen people were injured in the violence, including six police officers. Police arrested 19 people, some of whom they said had "triad backgrounds".
*Sporadic clashes have continued throughout the day in Mong Kok while arguments between the pro- and anti-Occupy camps persist in Causeway Bay. Meanwhile, as darkness falls, protesters are gathering in their thousands in Admiralty.
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1609580/live-chinese-university-urges-students-leave-thousands-gather
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