Police and pro-democracy protesters briefly clashed on Saturday (September 21st) in Hong Kong, near the Chinese border. Calls for demonstrations and the strike are multiplying on the Internet before two key anniversaries, including that of the creation of the Republic of China.
Police used tear gas and water cannons against radical groups that erected barricades and threw stones and Molotov cocktails in the town of Tuen Mun in northwestern Hong Kong. Many demonstrators were arrested.
Chinese flag burned
The day began with a peaceful rally in Tuen Mun, not far from mainland China, before escalating, according to a now classic scenario. A handful of radical militants snatched a Chinese flag that was floating in front of a local government office, before burning it. The police immediately went to a city park where demonstrators were gathered to conduct a series of arrests.
Hundreds of protesters have erected barricades and dismantled security barriers. They also threw objects on nearby railroad tracks. Clashes between the police and protesters came to a halt as soon as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
Saturday evening, protesters continued to play the game of cat and mouse in the streets.
Since June, the semi-autonomous territory has been experiencing its worst political crisis since its return to China in 1997, with almost daily actions and demonstrations calling for democratic reforms or denouncing a brutal police response by the protesters.
With AFP