Police arrest suspect

HONG KONG - Hong Kong police arrested a 24-yearold man at the airport early on Thursday on suspicion of stabbing and wounding an officer during a demonstration against a new national security law imposed by Beijing on the financial hub.

The arrest followed protests on Wednesday in which police fired water cannon and tear gas and arrested more than 300 people as demonstrators defied the sweeping security legislation introduced by China to snuff out dissent in the former British colony.

There were no signs of protests on Thursday.

US vice-president Mike Pence said the new law was a betrayal of the Sino-British agreement on Hong Kong’s future after it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

“The national security law that China passed and now is imposing on Hong Kong is a — it’s a betrayal of the international agreement that they signed, and ultimately it’s unacceptable to freedom-loving people around the world,” he told CNBC on Thursday.

Hong Kong police posted pictures on Twitter from Wednesday’s disturbances showing on officer with a bleeding arm saying he was stabbed by “rioters holding sharp objects”. The suspects fled while bystanders offered no help, the police said.