Pepper spray in HK, French cops break up protests
HONG KONG: Protesters in Hong Kong burned a Chinese flag and police fired pepper spray Saturday in renewed clashes over antigovernment grievances.
Police accused some protesters of throwing gasoline bombs after a march by several thousand people in Tuen Mun, an outlying district in the Chinese territory’s northwest. The event was relatively small compared with previous demonstrations that have taken place every weekend since June.
In Tuen Mun, protesters marched about 2 kilometers from a playground to a government office building. Many were dressed in black and carried umbrellas, a symbol of their movement. Protesters chanted, “Reclaim Hong Kong!” and “Revolution of our times!” Most were peaceful but some took down a Chinese flag from a pole outside a government office and set fire to it. A government statement said some protesters “threw petrol bombs” but gave no details of possible injuries or damage. It told people in the area to stay indoors and keep their windows closed.
YELLOW VESTS, BLACK BLOC MARCH IN FRANCE
PARIS : French police fired tear gas and made over a hundred arrests in Paris on Saturday as they dispersed “yellow vest” protesters attempting unauthorised rallies and black-masked demonstrators who disrupted a climate march.
Police had made 137 arrests in Paris by mid-afternoon and had pushed back around one hundred protesters who gathered on the Champs-Elysees shopping avenue, the Paris police prefecture said. The government deployed a massive police presence as it feared yellow-vest supporters and other activists, including “black bloc” anarchists, would take advantage of authorised protests over climate change and pension reform. Some 7,500 police were mobilised, several districts including the Champs-Elysees were made out-of-bounds for protests, and over 30 metro stations closed. The climate rally saw sporadic confrontations between police and masked demonstrators who had infiltrated the march. Groups wearing black clothing associated with the so-called black bloc anarchist set fire to bins and a motorbike.