Hong Kong police fire tear gas at crowds near Beijing’s office

Police in Hong Kong has fired tear gas as thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered close to China’s main representative office, in the latest mass demonstration to hit the financial hub.

According to Aljazeera, Sunday’s rally came after protests over the past two months against a proposed bill that would have allowed suspects to be extradited to mainland China have grown increasingly violent.

A march on Saturday in a rural northern town denouncing a bloody assault the previous weekend by suspected triad gang members ended in turmoil as riot police used tear gas, rubber bullets and sponge grenades to clear the crowds.

A gathering in a park in Hong Kong’s central business district began spilling on to surrounding roads. Black-clad protesters set off in several directions, clogging up major thoroughfares in an apparent attempt to stretch the police by splitting up their marches.

“The police usually surround us and we have nowhere to go. So we adjust our strategy this time. This is much more fluid and flexible,” protester Edward Ng said.

ALSO READ: UK government working on assumption of no-deal Brexit

Thousands of people headed east towards the shopping district of Causeway Bay, while another large contingent headed west, towards the Chinese government’s representative office, known as the Central Government Liaison Office.

There, hundreds of riot police blocked activists from advancing towards the building, which had been heavily fortified with water-filled plastic barricades.

A clear plastic shield had been erected around a national emblem above its front doors.
The office has become a focus for the anger of protesters alarmed by what many see as Beijing’s increasing control despite guarantees of autonomy under a “one country, two systems” formula, struck when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Last Sunday, protesters took police by surprise with a swoop on the Liaison Office, scrawling graffiti and throwing paint bombs at walls, the national emblem, and a plaque.

Chinese officials described the vandalism as a “challenge” to the central government’s sovereignty which would not be tolerated.

“Everyone knows very well that the current Hong Kong government has been controlled by some outside forces, like those in the Liaison Office,” said an activist surnamed Chan.

“Now Hong Kong doesn’t even have basic freedom of assembly. We have come here to make a symbolic expression.”
China denies interfering in Hong Kong and has warned that the violent protests over the proposed extradition bill were an “undisguised challenge” to the formula under which it is ruled.