HONG KONG: Police in Hong Kong yesterday fired tear gas to try to break up a violent demonstration near parliament, where tens of thousands of people defied a ban on demonstrations and rains to sweep several neighborhoods in the former British colony.
The police justified not to authorize the new mass demonstration for the risk of violence, a note of the clashes last Sunday, which was the most serious since the protests began last June.
Crowds of black protesters - the symbol of the movement - spread through the streets of several neighborhoods, in the heart of the semi-autonomous region. "Hong Kong is the revolution of our time," they chanted.
Tensions rose yesterday afternoon when a small group of militants began throwing stones at policemen standing around the compound, which houses the Legislative Council and the Hong Kong government headquarters.
Protesters set fire to a large checkpoint near the police headquarters, an AFP journalist said.
Police fired tear gas to try to disperse them, as protesters broke through parliament's barriers and threw security forces with Molotov cocktails. Police earlier sprayed pepper spray on protesters.
Parliament was stormed and vandalized on July 1, the 22nd anniversary of the return of the former British colony to China.
Earlier, a group of people staged a march near the residence of the head of the local executive authority, Carrie Lam, the race seat of the British ruler and located on the slopes of Mount Victoria Peak.
Lam is angry at the demonstrators for not formally withdrawing the controversial draft law on extradition to China, which in June sparked mobilization.
Another group protested in the Causeway Bay business district and was packed as every Saturday.
For nearly three months, Hong Kong has been going through its worst crisis since its return to China in 1997, with almost daily demonstrations and actions, some of which turned violent confrontations with security forces. This unprecedented situation is facing the region's authorities.