Hong Kong protests: Christmas Eve rallies lead to clashes – BBC News, BBC News
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Image copyrightAFPImage caption Tear gas was fired in busy shopping and tourist districts
Police in Hong Kong have battled pro-democracy protesters with tear gas in some of the most sustained unrest seen in the Chinese territory in weeks.
Demonstrators – some wearing Santa hats or reindeer horns to mark Christmas Eve – held flashmob rallies in multiple shopping centers, while others took to the streets of a popular tourist area.
Some threw petrol bombs, while police used pepper spray and batons.
Hong Kong has seen six months of anti-government protests.
The protests started in June over a controversial extradition bill, and have now evolved into a broader movement demanding an investigation into police brutality, and democratic reform.
The Territory’s pro-democracy movement made unprecedented gains
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Volunteer medics and masked protesters gathered inside shopping centers Image copyrightReutersImage caption The government condemned the protests, saying they “disrupted social order” and “affected the festive mood” One************************************** – year-old protester, Nigel Chan, told Reuters: “Many Hong Kong people did not expect this Christmas to be different … but this year the Christmas Eve seems to [have] become the time to fight.”
Another protester, who gave her name as Mary, told the news agency: “Even though this is a very joyful event and holiday for us, some [protesters] are in jail … we should remind others that our fight has not ended yet. “
A government spokesman accused rioters of disrupting “social order and citizens’ celebrations on Christmas” with their “outrageous “acts.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Protests continued into the early hours of Christmas Day
Hong Kong was a British colony until (************************************, after which it was returned to China under the “one” country, two systems “arrangement.
Under the agreement, Hong Kong is expected to have a high degree of autonomy from mainland China, and residents enjoy more freedoms than those on the mainland.(********************************
Image copyright AFP 
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