- Title: Hong Kong police brandish guns, fire tear gas at protesters
- Date: 1st October 2019
- Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (OCTOBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS) RIOT POLICE STANDING BEHIND SHIELDS FIRING TEAR GAS PROTESTERS WEARING GAS MASKS BANGING STREET FURNITURE RIOT POLICE SEEN THROUGH A CLOUD OF TEAR GAS PROTESTERS SHELTERING UNDER UMBRELLAS RIOT POLICE ADVANCING IN A LINE AND FIRING TEAR GAS MORE OF RIOT POLICE FIRING TEAR GAS LARGE CLOUD OF TEAR GAS DISPERSING POLICE WITH TEAR GAS RIFLES WATCHING PROTESTERS LINES OF RIOT POLICE
- Embargoed: 15th October 2019 10:18
- Keywords: Hong Kong protest crackdown police teargas clashes unrest
- Location: HONG KONG, CHINA
- City: HONG KONG, CHINA
- Country: Hong Kong
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA001AZ9L3YF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Hong Kong protesters threw petrol bombs and police fired tear gas in street battles across the city on Tuesday (October 1), posing a direct challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.
Police fired water cannon and tear gas to try to disperse protesters throwing petrol bombs outside central government offices in the Admiralty area of Hong Kong island and ordered the evacuation of the Legislative Council building, trashed by activists weeks ago, next door.
In the New Territories town of Sha Tin, police fired tear gas canisters directly at high-rise windows, though it was not clear why, as the Chinese-ruled city was gripped by the most widespread violence in nearly four months of unrest.
Police said "rioters" had used corrosive fluid in Tuen Mun in the west of the New Territories, "injuring multiple police officers and reporters". No details were immediately available.
The Chinese-ruled territory has been tense for weeks, with protests often turning violent, as authorities scramble to avoid activists spoiling Beijing's birthday parade at a time when the central government is already grappling with a U.S.-China trade war and a slowing economy.
Peaceful protests descended into chaos with police firing volleys of tear gas outside a famous Taoist temple in the residential district of Wong Tai Sin. At least eight motor-cycles were torched.
Nearly four months of street clashes and demonstrations have plunged the former British colony into its biggest political crisis in decades and pose the gravest popular challenge to President Xi since he came to power.
Thousands of black-clad protesters, some wearing Guy Fawkes masks, marched from Causeway Bay toward government headquarters in Admiralty, defying a ban on a rally and setting up the likelihood of clashes with police.
Rail operator MTR Corp shut down its whole metro system to stop protesters moving around. Shutting stations has made it a common target for attack, with several of its stations trashed over recent weeks.
Protesters had vowed to seize the opportunity on China's National Day to propel their calls for greater democracy onto the international stage, hijacking an occasion Beijing sees as an opportunity to showcase China's economic and military progress.
(Production: Yuddy Cahya Budiman, Shane Tietjens) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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