Hong kong protesters rebuild ‘lennon Walls’ ahead of China national day

Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters have set themselves a busy schedule for Saturday, rebuilding “Lennon Walls” of anti-government graffiti and marking the fifth anniversary of the “Umbrella” street movement that gridlocked the city for weeks.

Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon on Saturday to disperse anti-government protesters who threw rocks, broke government office windows and blocked a key road near the local headquarters of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Thousands of protesters rallied at the harbourside on Friday,as the violent unrest crosses three months in the Chinese-ruled territory. That came ahead of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday, when there are pro- and anti-beijing protests planned across the former British colony, including at the British Consulate where protesters this month asked for help in reining in Beijing.

Protesters are angry about what they see as creeping Chinese interference in Hong Kong, which returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula intended to guarantee freedoms.

China vehemently denies meddling. It has accused foreign governments of inciting the unrest. Saturday is also the fifth anniversary of the start of the “Umbrella” protests, 79 days of student-led demonstrations in 2014 calling for universal suffrage that failed to wrest concessions from Beijing. One of the most prominent leaders of those protests, the bespectacled Joshua Wong, 22, is expected to announce on Saturday he will run for local district council elections in November.

He is on bail after being charged with inciting and participating in an unauthorised assembly outside police headquarters on 21 June.