HK protesters hurl petrol bombs after police fire tear gas to clear rally

HONG KONG: Hong Kong antigovernment protesters set fire to shops and hurled petrol bombs on Sunday, police said, after riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse thousands in the Tsim Sha Tsui harbour-front hotel district.

The protesters, many in all-black clothing and face-masks now banned under a resurrected British colonialera law, had gathered to denounce perceived police brutality during more than four months of oftenviolent unrest in the Chinese-ruled city.

It was the 21st straight weekend of protests, marked by a notable rise in the jeering and verbal abuse of police but not in the scale of violence. Police said one man was beaten up by

“masked rioters”.

“The police warn all rioters to stop all illegal acts immediately,” they said in a statement.

But cat-and-mouse chases continued into the night, with protesters running away from water cannon and tear gas, only to re-appear seconds or minutes later.

There was a standoff as dusk fell, with protesters, bemused tourists and passers-by gathered on the pavements of the shopping and hotel artery of Nathan Road, which police had earlier cleared in slow-moving cordons.

Riot police stood by outside the Chungking Mansions high-rise warren of South Asian restaurants and backpacker hostels, shields and batons at the ready.

“Fight for Hong Kong!” protesters shouted, “five demands, not one less”, a reference to demands for universal suffrage and an independent inquiry into police actions, among other things.

Police later moved away, leaving protesters, pedestrians and tourists alike to take over the street under the neon lights. Then one water cannon moved in, firing high into the air and down side-streets.

Police said protesters later hurled petrol bombs at a police station in Sham Shui Po, northwest of Tsim Sha Tsui, and set fire to shops in Jordan, north along Nathan Road from the harbour. Reuters witnesses saw two MTR entrances on fire in Mong Kok.