Hong Kong police fire teargas in clashes with protesters

Hong Kong riot police fired repeated tear gas rounds yesterday evening at pro-democracy protesters in a popular tourist district, as violence rocked the international finance hub once more despite increasingly stern warnings from China. The semi-autonomous southern Chinese financial hub has seen two months of protests and clashes triggered by opposition to a planned extradition law that quickly evolved into a wider movement for democratic reforms.

Authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing this week signalled a hardening stance, including with the arrests of dozens of protesters, and the Chinese military saying it was ready to quell the “intolerable” unrest if requested. But protesters have remained unyielding, vowing to hold multiple occupations and rallies in the coming days. Yesterday’s violence -- the ninth consecutive weekend of clashes -- took place in Tsim Sha Tsui, a usually bustling harbourside district known for its luxury malls and hotels. Officers with gas masks and shields charged at hundreds of protesters who had been besieging a nearby police station.

Masked demonstrators had smashed the windows of cars in the police parking lot and daubed nearby walls with graffiti. One team of protesters created a large slingshot -- held up by two members -- to launch bricks at the building. Police fired volleys of tear gas followed by repeated baton charges with multiple arrests made. But standoffs continued into the evening with small groups of hardcore protesters trying to hold their ground behind makeshift shield walls. Earlier in the day tens of thousands of protesters had marched through nearby streets, embracing their mantra “be water” -- a philosophy of unpredictability espoused by local martial arts legend Bruce Lee.They seized roads, built barricades and even briefly blocked a cross-harbour tunnel.