HK shops trashed in major protest
Prodemocracy demonstrators battle tear gas with fire bombs
HONG Kong—prodemocracy demonstrators fought police with gas bombs and trashed hundreds of shops in Hong Kong’s Kowloon district as an illegal antigovernment march descended into chaos on Sunday. Protesters targeted Chinese banks during the rally that attracted tens of thousands and showed the prodemocracy campaign not losing support.
HONG KONG—HONG Kong police and protesters exchanged tear gas and petrol bombs as an illegal antigovernment march that attracted tens of thousands descended into chaos, with hundreds of shops trashed and Chinese banks and metro stations targeted.
After two weeks of relative calm, the major rally showed that the prodemocracy campaign had not lost support and that hard-core protesters would continue to clash with police.
Fiery barriers
Protesters dressed in black erected fiery barriers on Nathan Road, a major retail strip in the Kowloon district, as scores of riot police, shields in front, marched toward them, while others fired tear gas.
Protesters earlier threw petrol bombs at the nearby Tsim Sha Tsui police station after police inside fired volleys of tear gas to disperse protesters on the street.
A police water canon truck sprayed jets of blue dye into the crowd at the police station, sending hundreds fleeing. Police have used the blue dye to identify protesters.
Dozens of riot police vans then descended on Nathan Road, along with water canon trucks. It was the heaviest use of water canons by police and many people hit with the water developed coughs, suggesting an irritant may be mixed with the water.
Police used trucks to smash through protest barriers.
Along the march route, protesters trashed metro stations and hundreds of shops, throwing goods onto the streets. Several Chinese banks were targeted.
Worst crisis
Hong Kong has been battered by months of often massive and violent protests over concerns that Beijing is tightening its grip on the city, the worst political crisis since Britain handed the city back to China in 1997.
The protests in the Chinese-ruled city also pose the biggest popular challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he took power. Beijing has denied eroding Hong Kong’s freedoms and Xi has vowed to crush any attempt to split China.