- Title: Hong Kong police use pepper spray against protesters
- Date: 6th November 2016
- Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (NOVEMBER 6, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** PROTESTERS HOLDING UMBRELLAS PUSHING AGAINST POLICE POLICE SPRAYING PROTESTERS WITH PEPPER SPRAY PROTESTERS THROWING BOTTLES AT POLICE MORE POLICE ARRIVING POLICE OFFICER'S HANDS PREPARING BOTTLE OF PEPPER SPRAY POLICE WEARING RIOT GEAR FACING OFF WITH PROTESTERS AT CORDON PROTESTER POURING WATER ON HER FACE PROTESTERS GATHERED AT INTERSECTION PROTESTERS WEARING MASKS POLICE GATHERED AT ROAD VARIOUS OF POLICE SPRAYING PROTESTERS HOLDING UMBRELLAS WITH PEPPER SPRAY POLICE IN RIOT GEAR MOVING FORWARD PROTESTERS RETREATING WITH FENCES POLICE IN RIOT GEAR PROTESTERS HOLDING UMBRELLAS
- Embargoed: 21st November 2016 17:17
- Keywords: Hong Kong protesters pepper spray police China activists. Beijing NPC
- Location: HONG KONG, CHINA
- City: HONG KONG, CHINA
- Country: Hong Kong
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00157B3OZR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hong Kong police clashed with protesters on Sunday (November 6) as they demonstrated near China's representative office against Beijing's attempts to stop a fledgling independence movement.
Several protesters were arrested.
Police were seen using pepper spray against dozens of masked demonstrators, who shielded themselves with umbrellas - the symbol of the 79-day street protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2014.
The protest had started as a peaceful march against Beijing's decision to bar two newly-elected politicians, Yau Wai-ching and Baggio Leung, from taking office in Hong Kong's legislature.
The pair pledged allegiance to the "Hong Kong nation" and displayed a "Hong Kong is not China" banner during a swearing-in ceremony for the city's legislative council in October.
Their oaths were not accepted and their right to re-take them is being challenged in the local courts by the Hong Kong government.
Several thousand were in attendance at the march, which ended at the city's high court.
A few hundred continued onto the central government's Liaison Office.
As of midnight (1600 GMT), a few dozen protesters remained at an intersection where they had been cornered earlier in the evening.
A ruling expected on Monday (November 7) from the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, is expected to prevent Yau, 25, and Leung, 30, from taking office.
China Central Television quoted national politicians as saying the pair were a threat to China's "sovereignty and security".
The situation is seen by some in Hong Kong's legal and political elite as one of the biggest tests the global financial hub has faced since its handover to China, with some fearing its vaunted rule of law is under threat. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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