HONG KONG – Hong Kong police fired water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas at petrol bomb-throwing protesters on Sunday in some of the most widespread and violent clashes in more than three months of anti-government unrest.
Running battles in the Causeway Bay shopping district, Wan Chai bar area and the Admiralty district of central government offices followed a night of showdowns with police in the Chinese-ruled city, where street fires burned as the sun set.
More protests are planned in the run-up to China’s Oct. 1 National Day, marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
Protesters, many of them wearing their trademark black with face masks, took cover from the tear gas behind umbrellas, some throwing tear gas canisters back at police.
They built barricades with trolleys and trash cans and other debris. One threw a petrol bomb at police in the Wan Chai metro station where an entrance was set ablaze.
Protesters shouted anti-China slogans and called for their “five demands, not one less” of the government, including universal suffrage and the dropping of all charges against their arrested colleagues.
About 200 China supporters dressed in red T-shirts gathered on top of Victoria Peak, overlooking the harbour, at around midday. They sang the Chinese national anthem and chanted “I love China”.
