Police say homemade bomb targeted officers

A homemade, remotecontrolled bomb intended to “kill or to harm” riot control officers was detonated as they deployed against renewed violence in Hong Kong over the weekend, police said Monday, in a further escalation of destructive street battles gripping the business hub.

The “loud thud” Sunday night close to riot officers who had been clearing away a protesterbuilt road block marked the first known use of an explosive device during protests that started in June over a contested extradition bill and have snowballed into an antigovernment, antipolice and antiChina movement.

But despite spiraling violence, widespread vandalism and gasolinebomb attacks by blackclad hardcore protesters, and repeated government appeals for people not to take their side, the protest movement is still rousing determined support from more moderate demonstrators, broadly worried about the future of the semiautonomous Chinese territory and its freedoms, unique in China.

A peaceful rally in central Hong Kong’s swanky business district on Monday night drew a giant crowd tens of thousands strong, a chanting, singing throng so massive that demonstrators filled side streets and broad boulevards. Holding aloft lit cellphones, the crowd looked like a galaxy of stars. Organizers said they drew 130,000 participants.

Many waved U.S. flags. The rally appealed for the U.S. Congress to press on with legislation that would require the secretary of state to annually review Hong Kong’s special economic and trade status, providing a check on Beijing’s influence over the territory.