Protests in Hong Kong (Ap)

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September 29, 2019Tens of protesters were arrested on Sunday in Hong Kong after riot police charged an ongoing demonstration in front of the government headquarters of the former British colony and a Chinese army base. The police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and used a water cannon containing an abrasive chemical that leaves blue spots on
who is hit.

While the demonstrators were throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, the riot police attacked the protesters from the side, taking them by surprise. In clashes, groups of policemen blocked a
land demonstrators continuing to strike even when they were immobilized, news agencies report. Here are some moments of the clashes in the Bloomberg video

BARRICADES BURN: Protestors set fire to barricades on Hennessy Road in Hong Kong's Wan Chai district #HongKongProtests # 香港 pic.twitter.com/OF0SqXicXy

- Bloomberg TicToc (@tictoc) September 29, 2019


The crowd had left the shopping district and had surrounded the police while carrying out a series of arrests. There was a brief clash in Causeway Baym the second in two days, while the protesters intensified their rallies in view of the 70th anniversary of the founding of Communist China, which falls on Tuesday.

The police, before resorting to tear gas to disperse the crowd, had used pepper spray against protesters and made the first arrests. After the launch of tear gas, the protesters resumed their march from Causeway Bay towards the center, to Admiralty, where the institutional offices are located, while at Victoria Peak a counter-demonstration was organized where the participants sang the Chinese national anthem.

The pro-democracy protesters are at the seventeenth consecutive weekend of anti-government protests, and the agenda for the next few days is full of protest initiatives to coincide with the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which will be celebrated in Beijing on Tuesday next one. In addition to the march against totalitarianism, a protest rally on the Kowloon peninsula and a march of high school students in the Tsuen Wan area were also organized.

Delegation to Beijing
Governor Carrie Lam will lead a delegation from Hong Kong on a mission to Beijing on Monday to participate in the celebratory activities of October 1st, in view of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic. Lam "will be the head of a group of over 240 people from different sectors", reads a note from the Hong Kong government: his return "is expected on the evening of October 1st via Shenzhen". One move, observers say, will create tensions and criticism amid pro-democracy protests against local and central government.

It is not clear why the Hong Kong chief executive decided at the last minute to leave for Beijing. His administration had already sent invitations for the October 1st celebrations, which will be held in a minor tone on the island, at Wan Chai's Convention and Exhibition Center. The secretary of the Hong Kong administration will receive the guests, will be the chief secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, who will take the place of Lam at the event. The leader of Hong Kong remains the main target of protesters' protests.