HONG KONG: Anti-government protesters attacked the Hong Kong office of China’s official Xinhua News Agency for the first time on Saturday after chaos broke out downtown, with police firing tear gas and demonstrators hurling gasoline bombs as the protest movement approached the five-month mark.

Streets in the upscale Causeway Bay shopping area and nearby Victoria Park were clouded in tear gas, prompting thousands of protesters to flee as riot police moved swiftly to stymie a rally demanding meaningful autonomy after Beijing indicated it could tighten its grip on the Chinese territory.

Police deployed at least two water cannon trucks in the vicinity. They had issued warnings to protesters who occupied the area that they were attending an unauthorised rally and violating a government ban on face masks.

Some protesters stormed Xinhua’s office in the city’s Wan Chai neighbourhood. They smashed its glass door entrance and windows, splashed red ink, sprayed graffiti and set a small fire in the office lobby.

Chinese banks and businesses linked to China have been frequently targeted by protesters as anger has built up against Beijing. The demonstrators accuse the central government of infringing on the freedoms guaranteed to Hong Kong when Britain returned the city to China in 1997.

Earlier on Saturday, some protesters unearthed a goal post from a soccer field and metal railings to block the park’s entrance.

Pro-democracy candidates running in this month’s district council elections who can meet with groups of 50 or fewer people without a police permit held hustings at the park to try get around the rally ban. One candidate was pepper-sprayed in the face after he argued with police and was detained.

Hardcore protesters in full gear quickly regrouped in the vicinity, using plastic cones and metal railings to set up road barriers. In Wan Chai and other areas, protesters hurled gasoline bombs at police, who responded by firing more tear gas and a water cannon. A number of protesters were detained.

Police said in a statement that some masked rioters also damaged shops, committed arson and placed nails on the roads, threatening the safety of road users.

The chaos underlined the depth of dissent that began in early June over a now-shelved plan to allow extraditions to mainland China but have since swelled into a movement seeking other demands, including direct elections for Hong Kong’s leaders.

A move last month by Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, to invoke emergency powers to impose a face mask ban was seen as crimping the protesters’ rights to assemble.

As the street battles continued late Saturday, thousands gathered at a public square overlooking the city’s harbor for a police-approved rally.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2019