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Hong Kong police fire tear gas, water cannon after protesters hurl petrol bombs: live updates – CNN, CNN

Hong Kong police fire tear gas, water cannon after protesters hurl petrol bombs: live updates – CNN, CNN


Hong Kong’s subway operator MTR is shutting train stations during the protests. It said the Hong Kong Island line would not stop at Admiralty station, Wan Chai station and Causeway Bay station.

MTR found itself under heavy criticism from Chinese state media last month, which has accused it of helping participants ofthe city’s pro-democracy protests.

The company, which is Hong Kong’s sole subway operator as well as a real estate owner, said it would halt train services and immediately close stations “if fights, vandalism or other acts of violence occur .

More than 100 riot police officers have gathered at Fortress Hill in Hong Kong. Some residents have greeted them by shouting insults.

The crowd clapped and sang a popular song that ridicules police officers.

The riot police have entered the Fortress Hill subway station following the verbal confrontation.

Confrontations between black-clad protesters and riot police have become commonplace in recent weeks.

But earlier on Sunday, there was a face-off of a different kind.

As around 100 armed riot police began moving from their post on Hennessy Road in Causeway Bay, a crowd of people began yelling furiously at the officers, jeering at them.

Unlike the young, masked protesters in Admiralty earlier, these people were mostly middle aged.

Many wore T-shirts, flip-flops, and no protection on their face at all.

It’s become more usual to see middle-aged people verbally take out their frustrations on police – especially as the protests move into different neighborhoods.

Sunday’s protest has become fragmented, with the majority of the frontline demonstrators now dispersed throughout the downtown area, following police action earlier to clear Harcourt Road outside Hong Kong’s legislature.

Throughout Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and into Tin Hau, scattered bands of protesters are playing a cat and mouse style game in an attempt to avoid police.

Many protesters are now attempting to enter the Causeway Bay subway station, which has been guarded by a heavy police presence, presumably in a bid to leave the scene.

In glitzy malls acrossHong Kong,people are spontaneously breaking into a song. It’s not just any tune – it’s a rousing ballad that some are calling the city’s new, if unofficial “national anthem.”

On Wednesday and Thursday nights, large crowds in malls across the city broke into the anthem, which includes lyrics such as “For Hong Kong, may freedom reign.” Earlier in the week, football fans at a World Cup qualifier match between Hong Kong and Iran booed theChinesenational anthem, entitled “March of the Volunteers, “before singing the new protest tune. It could be heard again throughout today’s protest march.

Since the song was released onYouTubeat the end of August, it has attracted over 1.6 million views. A video clip of the orchestral version of the song has over1 million views, and features a choir and orchestra decked out in the unofficial protest uniform of hard hats and face masks, playing instruments as white fog – intended to symbolize tear gas – swirls around them.

Read more about the song, and the man who first composed ithere

For months, October 1 has loomed over themass pro -democracy demonstrationsin Hong Kong, as a whispered deadline for the ruling Chinese Communist Party to take action to end the unrest.

On that day, Beijing will be hoping to project an image of national strength and unity with a military parade through the city to mark 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

It’s a significant milestone that C hina’s leaders will not want overshadowed byprotests in Hong Kong,which have grown in intensity since mass demonstrations began in June.

But what action the party might take is unclear and highly debated, with some even saying the greater threat will be after the anniversary, if protesters disrupt or distract from the day’s celebrations and embarrass

The Hong Kong government has said there is no such deadline for action by Beijing to end the protests. In audioleaked to Reuters,Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam can be heard reassuring business leaders that “they and ourselves have no expectations that we could clear up this thing before the 1st of October. “

But the whispers have continued, with no clear consensus on what October 1 might mean for Hong Kong.

Read morehere

In Tin Hau, where protesters have retreated to as police continue to advance, an altercation turned violent between a passerby and protesters.

An unmasked man was knocked to the floor and kicked and punched by protesters. He was left dazed and bleeding as the crowd moved away from him and friends helped him up. Some protesters attempted to stop journalists filming the altercation. It’s unclear exactly what started the incident.

Earlier this weekend there were ugly confrontations between protesters and pro-China counter demonstrators, though few turned seriously violent.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam recently announced that she would finally withdraw the loathed extradition bill that kick-started three months of violent protests. The move was greeted not with the relief or happiness she might have hoped for, but with frustration and anger that the compromise had taken so long.

Few expect the unrest to stop anytime soon – as Sunday’s protests show, the movement still has plenty of energy for skirmishes with police.

The government may hope to outflank the protest movement by painting them as unwilling to accept compromise, but even some of Lam’s allies have publicly said that the withdrawal was too little, too late.

Lam has walked right up to the line of an effective solution and stopped just short, just as she did in June when shesuspended the billinstead of withdrawing it.

Had she announced an independent investigation into allegations of police brutality – thus fulfilling the two most important of the protests’five demands– she might have taken the wind out of the movement. Instead, she continues to insist the matter be handled by the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), which despite its name has been criticized as stacked with government loyalists and lacks the confidence of protesters.

Read more here

There’s been a heavy police presence throughout Hong Kong today – and they haven’t been afraid to flex their muscle.

Riot police have been out en mass. There are currently multiple police lines moving through the city, including two on Hennessy Road.

Around 100 police are currently stretched across Hennessy Road in Causeway Bay, holding shields and fanning west.

There are also several police units accompanied by at least two armored-plated tactical personnel carriers in Wan Chai, heading east.

Today we’ve seen police fire multiple rounds of tear gas, pepper balls, and water cannon.

Even early in the day, during the peaceful march, riot police had a small presence in Admiralty.

Anthony Kwan/Getty Images
Anthony Kwan / Getty Images

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