Hong Kong police and protesters exchange tear gas and petrol bombs

Police fired tear gas after firebombs were thrown toward one station as tens of thousands of demonstrators marched down a main road with traffic at a standstill in Kowloon district.

An anti-government demonstrator holds a tear gas canister during a protest march in Hong Kong, China on October 20, 2019.
Reuters

An anti-government demonstrator holds a tear gas canister during a protest march in Hong Kong, China on October 20, 2019.

Hong Kong police fired tear gas at protesters throwing petrol bombs on Sunday as thousands staged an illegal march through the Kowloon district that will test the strength of the pro-democracy campaign after four months of unrest.

Police inside the Tsim Sha Tsui police station fired volleys of tear gas and used a loudspeaker to called on protesters in the street below to disperse.

Hardcore black-clad protesters threw petrol bombs at the station's iron gate and inside the compound.

TRT World spoke to Grace Lee for the latest.

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Violent protests

Elsewhere along the march route, protesters trashed shops and metro stations and set fires.

Hong Kong has been battered by months of often massive and violent protests over concerns Beijing is tightening its grip on the city, the worst political crisis since Britain handed the city back to China in 1997.

Reuters

An anti-government demonstrator holds a tear gas canister during a protest march in Hong Kong, China on October 20, 2019.

Extradition bill

The crisis in the Chinese-ruled city also poses the biggest popular challenge to China's President Xi Jinping since he took power. 

Beijing has denied eroding Hong Kong's freedoms and Xi has vowed to crush any attempt to split China.

The unrest was sparked by a bill that would have allowed extradition to mainland China for trial in Communist Party-controlled courts.

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