Hong Kong protests: Police and activists clash as violence erupts for 24th consecutive weekend

Jacob Jarvis10 November 2019

Violence erupted on the streets of Hong Kong as clashes broke out during the 24th consecutive weekend of protests.

Police blasted protesters with tear gas and water cannons to break up rallies, as activists blocked roads and trashed shopping malls across Hong Kong's New Territories and Kowloon peninsula on Sunday.

Pro-democracy protesters, who used umbrellas to shield themselves from the police response, vandalised a train station in the central new town of Sha Tin as well as a restaurant seen as being pro-Beijing, overturning banqueting tables and smashing glass panels, two weeks before district council elections.

Elsewhere, violence spilled out onto the streets of Tuen Mun outside the "V city" mall, with running battles between riot police and protesters.

Authorities face off with activists in Hong Kong
Getty Images

Now TV showed pictures of a circular, red welt and bruise on the upper arm of one of its reporters who said she had been hit by a tear gas canister in Tsuen Wan, to the west of the New Territories, where police fired tear gas late into the evening to clear the streets.

The rail station was closed in Sha Tin, amid scuffles between police and protesters young and old, on a day of planned shopping mall protests throughout the territory.

Police fired tear gas at protesters (PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images

Protesters also daubed graffiti and damaged shops at Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong and targeted stores in Tsuen Wan, police said.

The violence spread to the Kowloon district of Mong Kok, one of the world's most densely populated areas, wherep olice used water cannon and volley after volley of tear gas to try to clear the main artery of Nathan Road, which was littered with loose bricks under the bright, neon lights.

Police also fired tear gas late at night in the New Territories district of Tai Po, north of Sha Tin.

Protesters are angry about what they see as police brutality as well as perceived meddling by Beijing in the former British colony's freedoms, guaranteed by the "one country, two systems" formula in place since the territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

China denies interfering, while it has blamed Western countries for stirring up unrest.

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