Police and protesters clash in latest Hong Kong unrest

HONG Kong protesters took to the streets again yesterday, ignoring a police ban on the rally and setting up barricades.

Police fired tear gas while some of the protesters threw petrol bombs.

Protest leaders carried a black banner at the front of the procession with the slogan ‘Five main demands, not one less’, as they pressed their calls for accountability and political rights.

Black-clad and masked demonstrators barricaded streets at multiple locations in Kowloon, where the city’s subway operator restricted passenger access. A firebomb was thrown at one subway station.

The protesters tore up paving stones from the footpath and scattered them on the road, commandeered plastic safety barriers and unscrewed metal railings to form makeshift roadblocks.

Police fired tear gas after petrol bombs were thrown towards one station as tens of thousands of demonstrators marched down a main road with traffic at a standstill.

They sang along to the protest movement’s anthem and held up placards depicting the Chinese flag as a Nazi swastika.

Matthew Lee, a university student, said he was determined to keep protesting. “I can see some people want to give up but I don’t want to do this because Hong Kong is my home, we want to protect this place, protect Hong Kong,” he said. “You can’t give up because Hong Kong is your home.”

Police beefed up security for the unauthorised rally, the latest in the five-month-old unrest rocking the semi-autonomous Chinese city. Many supporters of the movement wore masks in defiance of a recently introduced ban on face coverings at public gatherings, and volunteers handed more out to the crowd. OrRiot police fire tear gas during a pro-democracy march in the Kowloon district in Hong Kong. Right: Protesters form a human chain to pass items to build a barricade ganisers said they wanted to use their right to protest, as guaranteed by the city’s constitution, despite the risk of arrest.

“We’re using a peaceful, rational, non-violent way to voice our demands,” said Figo Chan, vice-convener of the Civil Human Rights Front. “We’re not afraid of being arrested. What I’m most scared of is everyone giving up on our principles.” The group has organised some of the movement’s biggest protest marches. One of its leaders, Jimmy Sham, was attacked on Wednesday by assailants wielding hammers.

On Saturday police arrested a 22-year-old man on suspicion of stabbing a teenage activist who was distributing leaflets. A witness told local broadcaster RTHK the assailant shouted pro-Beijing messages afterwards.