BEIJING: China on Monday (Aug 12) slammed violent protesters in Hong Kong who had thrown petrol bombs at police officers and linked them to "terrorism", as Beijing ramps up its rhetoric against pro-democracy demonstrations in the financial hub.

"Hong Kong's radical demonstrators have repeatedly used extremely dangerous tools to attack police officers, which already constitutes a serious violent crime, and also shows the first signs of terrorism emerging," said Yang Guang, spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.

"This wantonly tramples on Hong Kong's rule of law and social order," he said at a press briefing in Beijing.

Yang's remarks came a day after thousands of pro-democracy protesters defied warnings from authorities to hit the streets for the 10th weekend in a row.

Hong Kong police fired volleys of tear gas Sunday at protestors after denying their requests for permits to stage a march.

But Yang focused on the violent behavior of a "tiny minority", which he condemned as "a serious challenge to Hong Kong's prosperity and stability."

The two-month crisis, which was triggered by opposition to a planned extradition law, has morphed into a wider movement for democratic reform and a halt to eroding freedoms.

It is the biggest threat to Beijing's rule of the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city since its handover from Britain in 1997 - and has drawn repeated criticism but no forceful actions yet from the central Chinese government. </s> The communist leadership has warned of potential terrorism arising from the increasingly violent protests that have enflamed across Hong Kong. In a statement, Yang Guang, a spokesperson for the Chinese State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office expressed “deep indignation and strong condemnation” at recent events. However, in a landmark development, Beijing has also accused the US of interfering in the recent events in the key finance centre. In a statement, Chinese Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying questioned some of the remark emanating from the US.

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He said: "The U.S. has been making various Hong Kong-related accusations that are wanton, fact-distorting and inflammatory.

"Some senior U.S. politicians and diplomatic officials met and engaged with anti-China rabble-rousers in Hong Kong, criticized China unreasonably, propped up violent and illegal activities and undermined Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.

"I'd like to ask the US this question again: what is the true intention behind your behaviours relating to Hong Kong?"

The protests started in February in response to a bill introduced that would allow the city’s residents to be extradited to China.

READ MORE: Airport brought to standstill as mass crowds protest police violence </s> China’s Hong Kong Liaison office said on Wednesday that anti-government protesters were no different to “terrorists”, as US president Donald Trump said Chinese troops were moving to the border with Hong Kong and urged calm.

The Beijing-based Hong Kong and Macau Affairs office on Wednesday said extremely violent crimes must be severely punished in accordance with the law.

The strongly worded statements by China’s central government follows violent clashes between black clad protesters and riot police at Hong Kong’s international airport, which saw hundreds of flights halted for a second day.

A few dozen protesters remained at the airport on Wednesday while workers scrubbed it clean of blood and debris. Check-in counters reopened to queues of hundreds of weary travellers who had waited overnight for their flights.

Ten weeks of increasingly violent clashes between police and pro-democracy protesters, angered by a perceived erosion of freedoms, have plunged the Asian financial hub into its worst crisis since it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said it strongly condemned the “near terrorism criminal actions” in Hong Kong including what it called a violent attack on a mainland Chinese journalist and tourist at the airport.

Police condemned violent acts by protesters overnight and said a large group had “harassed and assaulted a visitor and a journalist”. Some protesters said they believed one of those men was an undercover Chinese agent, while another was confirmed as a reporter from China’s Global Times newspaper.

Five people were detained in the latest disturbances, police said, bringing the number of those arrested since the protests began in June to more than 600.

The protests began in opposition to a now-suspended bill that would have allowed the extradition of suspects for trial in mainland China but have swelled into wider calls for democracy.

Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has said the city has been pushed into a state of “panic and chaos”.

Demonstrators say they are fighting the erosion of the “one country, two systems” arrangement that enshrined some autonomy for Hong Kong when it returned to China in 1997.

The protests represent one of the biggest challenges for Chinese resident Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.

In Washington, US president Donald Trump said the Chinese government was moving troops to the border with Hong Kong and urged calm.

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has a garrison in Hong Kong but has remained in barracks since the protests started in April. However, the PLA garrison has issued a video showing “anti-riot” exercises, and its top brass have warned violence is “absolutely impermissible”.

As Hong Kong’s political crisis deepens, China denied a request for two US Navy warships to visit Hong Kong in the coming weeks, officials said.

Security at Hong Kong airport on Wednesday was stricter than usual with several entrances closed.

Hong Kong’s Airport Authority said it had obtained an interim court injunction to stop people from obstructing operations and that protesters could only demonstrate in designated areas.

Dicky, a 35-year-old protester at the airport for more than two days, said protesters would obey the injunction.

“We will continue to fight for what we deserve otherwise all of that would have been in vain,” he said, declining to give his full name.

Flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways published a half-page advertisement in the Hong Kong Economic Journal pledging its support for the government and calling for the resumption of the rule of law and social order.

China’s aviation regulator demanded last week that Cathay suspend personnel who engaged in or supported protests in Hong Kong from staffing flights into its airspace. The carrier later suspended two pilots.

Property developers Henderson Land Development, Cheung Kong Holdings and Sun Hung Kai Holdings also took out newspaper advertisement in support of the government on Wednesday.

Forward Keys, a flight data company, said the crisis had deterred people from making travel plans to the city, citing a 4.7 per cent fall in long-haul bookings to Hong Kong between June 16th and August 9th compared with the same period last year.

Statements of apology from protesters were displayed in the airport on Wednesday, promising to allow passengers to depart, to assist medical staff to carry out their duties and not to hinder the work of the press.

“We are not afraid of facing the issues directly...only afraid of losing your support to the whole movement due to our mistake, and that you give up on fighting.” –Reuters </s> HONG KONG (AP) — Clashes involving Hong Kong’s protest movement escalated violently late Sunday as police launched tear gas at protesters who didn’t disband after a massive march and subway riders were attacked by masked assailants who appeared to target the pro-democracy demonstrators.

The firing of tear gas was the latest confrontation between police and protesters who have taken to the streets for almost two months to fight a proposed extradition bill and call for electoral reforms in the Chinese territory.

The march had been peaceful when it reached its police-designated end point in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district in the late afternoon, but thousands continued onward, at various points occupying key government and business districts. They then headed for the Liaison Office, which represents China’s Communist Party-led central government within the city.

Protesters threw eggs at the building and spray-painted its surrounding surveillance cameras. China’s national emblem, which adorns the front of the Liaison Office, was splattered with black ink. The Liaison Office said in comments published on Chinese state media that the acts “openly challenged the authority of the central government and touched the bottom line of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle.”

Later, police threw tear gas canisters at protesters to try to disperse them. Protesters scattered, some heading back in the direction of a key business and retail district. Police remained in place, protecting themselves with shields. Police said on their official social media accounts that protesters threw bricks and petrol bombs at them and attacked the Central police station.

Hong Kong media released video showing masked assailants attacking commuters in a subway station. Among those attacked were protesters clad in their trademark black clothing and yellow hard hats.

The attackers, meanwhile, were dressed in white with black masks pulled over their heads. On Saturday, demonstrators wore white at a counter-rally in support of police.

Footage from Apple Daily showed the attackers using umbrellas to beat people in the station and inside a subway car. Subway passengers filmed by Stand News and iCABLE angrily accused police officers of not intervening in the attack. Stand News reporter Gwyneth Ho said on Facebook that she suffered minor injuries to her hands and shoulder, and was dizzy from a head injury. The South China Morning Post reported several people were bleeding following the attacks, and that seven people were sent to the hospital.

The Hong Kong government said in a statement shortly after midnight that commuters were attacked at a subway station in the city’s Yuen Long neighborhood, leading to “confrontations and injuries.”

The statement also said some “radical protesters initiated a series of violent acts … despite repeated warnings” by police. They said the acts included hurling petrol bombs, setting fires and throwing bricks.

“This is absolutely unacceptable to Hong Kong as a society that observes the rule of law,” the statement said, referring to the acts of the subway attackers as well as the protesters.

Organizers said 430,000 people participated in Sunday’s march, while police said there were 138,000 during the procession’s “peak period.”

Large protests began early last month in opposition to a contentious extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to stand trial in mainland China, where critics say their rights would be compromised.

Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has declared the extradition bill dead, but protesters are dissatisfied with her refusal to formally withdraw the legislation. Some are also calling for her to resign amid growing concerns about the steady erosion of civil rights in the city.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed back to China in 1997 and was promised certain democratic freedoms under the framework of “one country, two systems.” Fueled by anger at Lam and an enduring distrust of the Communist Party-ruled central government in Beijing, the current demonstrations have ballooned into calls for electoral reform and an investigation into alleged police brutality at the protests.

Walking in sweltering heat, protesters dressed in black kicked off Sunday’s march at a public park, carrying a large banner that read “Independent Inquiry for Rule of Law.”

“Free Hong Kong! Democracy now!” the protesters chanted, forming a dense procession through Wan Chai as they were joined by others who had been waiting in side streets.

“The government has never responded to our demands,” said Karen Yu, a 52-year-old Hong Kong resident who has attended four protests since they started. “No matter how much the government can do, at least it should come out and respond to us directly.”

Protesters repeated the five points of their “manifesto,” which was first introduced when a small group of them stormed the legislature earlier this month. Their main demands include universal suffrage — direct voting rights for all Hong Kong residents — as well as dropping charges against anti-extradition protesters, withdrawing the characterization of a clash between police and protesters as a “riot” and dissolving the Legislative Council.

Protesters read the demands aloud in both English and Cantonese in videos released Saturday.

“We did not want to embark on this path of resisting tyranny with our bare bodies,” they said, “but for too long, our government has lied and deceived, and refused to respond to the demands of the people.”

While the demonstrations have been largely peaceful, some confrontations between police and protesters have turned violent. In Sha Tin district the previous Sunday, they beat each other with umbrellas and bats inside a luxury shopping center. Demonstrators broke into the Legislative Council building on July 1 by moving past barricades and shattering windows.

On Friday, Hong Kong police discovered a stash of a powerful homemade explosive in a commercial building and arrested a man. Materials voicing opposition to the extradition bill were found at the site, local media said, but a police spokesman said no concrete link had been established and the investigation was continuing.

The People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, condemned “radical extremists” who attacked the legislature and “trampled” on Hong Kong’s rule of law in a front-page column Sunday. The paper said the counter-rally Saturday intended to show support for the police reflected “mainstream public opinion” in Hong Kong.

Wang reported from Beijing. Associated Press news assistants Phoebe Lai, Nadia Lam and Chanwoo Bang in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> Beijing, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Aug, 2019 ) :China on Monday slammed violent protesters in Hong Kong who had thrown petrol bombs at police officers and linked them to "terrorism", as Beijing ramps up its rhetoric against pro-democracy demonstrations in the financial hub.

"Hong Kong's radical demonstrators have repeatedly used extremely dangerous tools to attack police officers, which already constitutes a serious violent crime, and also shows the first signs of terrorism emerging," said Yang Guang, spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.

"This wantonly tramples on Hong Kong's rule of law and social order," he said at a press briefing in Beijing.

Yang's remarks came a day after thousands of pro-democracy protesters defied warnings from authorities to hit the streets for the 10th weekend in a row.

Hong Kong police fired volleys of tear gas Sunday at protestors after denying their requests for permits to stage a march. </s> China's army in Hong Kong has released a three-minute video showing troops carrying out "anti-riot" exercises, in what is being seen as a thinly-veiled warning to pro-democracy protesters.

The video, posted to social media, begins with a soldier shouting: "All consequences are at your own risk."

Tensions are high in Hong Kong after weeks of anti-government protests.

On Wednesday, more than 40 activists appeared in court charged with rioting, after Sunday's protest turned violent.

If convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison.
• The background you need on the protests

Hong Kong, a former British colony, is part of China but enjoys unique freedoms not seen on the mainland.

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has so far stayed out of the protests that have gone on for eight consecutive weekends and brought parts of central Hong Kong to a standstill - leaving the territory's police to deal with the unrest.

But at a reception to mark the 92nd anniversary of the PLA on Wednesday, the commander of the Chinese army's garrison in Hong Kong said the protests had "seriously threatened the life and safety of Hong Kong citizens, and violated the bottom line of 'one country, two systems'.

"This should not be tolerated and we express our strong condemnation," Chen Daoxiang said, in comments reported by the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper.

The army video, posted to the Chinese social media site Weibo, shows lines of troops carrying shields and batons performing anti-riot drills. It showcases tanks, rocket launchers, water cannon and barbed wire before featuring heavily-armed troops descending from helicopters and shooting their way through the streets and into people's homes.

Protesters can also be seen being arrested and walked, with their arms tied behind their backs, to "detention points".

Observers believe the video was likely to have been filmed in Hong Kong because the local Cantonese dialect is spoken, and it features a Hong Kong taxi and a flag almost identical to one used by Hong Kong police.

The demonstrations in Hong Kong began in March over a controversial bill that would have enabled extraditions to mainland China.

The government has since suspended the bill, but protesters want it withdrawn completely.

The demonstrations have also broadened into a wider movement, with activists demanding democratic reform and an independent inquiry into police violence.

There have been eight consecutive weekends of protests, and there were violent clashes on Sunday as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters.

In a rare intervention on Monday, China's top policy office in Hong Kong condemned Sunday's violent clashes as "horrendous incidents" that have caused "serious damage to the rule of law".

A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said the territory's "top priority" was to "restore social order". </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage of the incident was shared on Telegram and Twitter

At least 10 people were injured when fireworks were shot from a moving car into a crowd of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.

Video on social media showed people running for cover as fiery trails were shot towards them outside a police station in Tin Shui Wai district.

The activists had been supporting a small number of protesters who had been detained inside the station.

Tensions are high in Hong Kong after weeks of anti-government protests.

The incident early on Wednesday came as more than 40 activists appeared in court charged with rioting, after a protest on Sunday ended in violent clashes with police.

If convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison.

Campaigner Jack Hazlewood posted videos of the attacks collated from the private messaging app Telegram and other online sources.

Footage from Tin Shui Wai showed the car from which the attack was launched speeding away. The attackers have not been identified.

Police "strongly condemned" those responsible and said they were investigating.

It was the second time this month that pro-democracy activists had been attacked.

On 21 July, men dressed in white shirts and believed to be triad gangsters assaulted protesters and passers-by in the Yuen Long area, after some demonstrators had stormed China's central government building and defaced the national emblem.

Protesters alleged that the gangsters were acting at the behest of the authorities, a claim strongly denied by the government and police.

Elsewhere in Hong Kong, another crowd braved an approaching typhoon to gather outside a court where 44 people were charged with rioting. It is the first time the Hong Kong government has used the charge in connection with these anti-government protests.

The protesters chanted "revolution of our time" and "liberate Hong Kong".

The 44 were released on bail until September and most were given a midnight curfew.

Those gathered outside were in defiant mood.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Protesters chased officers and threw projectiles but other demonstrators urged them to stop (EVN/ Aaron McNicholas)

"I'm not scared to protest. This whole thing today is just making me more angry," said one protester, who gave his name as Gartner.

China has largely allowed Hong Kong's authorities to deal with the protests but fears are growing that it could step in if disruption continues.

In a rare intervention, China's top policy office in Hong Kong condemned Sunday's violent clashes as "horrendous incidents" that have caused "serious damage to the rule of law".

A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office insisted that the territory's "top priority" was to "restore social order".

How did we get here?

Demonstrations in Hong Kong began over a controversial bill that would have enabled extraditions to mainland China.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Nick Beake described the "chaos" on the streets over the weekend

The government has since paused work on the bill, but protesters want it withdrawn completely.

The demonstrations have also broadened into a wider movement, with activists demanding democratic reform and an independent inquiry into police violence.

As a former British colony, Hong Kong has its own legal and judicial systems, and has been promised "a high degree of autonomy" from the Chinese government except in foreign and defence affairs. </s> Metro stations in Hong Kong have resumed regular service and streets are being cleaned of debris as the city recovers from another night of violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police.

More protests are planned for this week.

Police fired volleys of tear gas at protesters across the territory on Sunday and staged baton charges in flashpoints in downtown Hong Kong and in working class districts.

Protesters threw two petrol bombs, which police said injured an officer, and used flash-mob strategy - withdrawing when pressed to reappear elsewhere - to combat police.

At one stage police stormed some underground train stations, firing tear gas and arresting protesters.

The protests blocked multiple roads in key commercial and shopping districts and shuttered public facilities across the Asian financial hub.

Protesters are expected to gather at the city's international airport for a fourth day in a row on Monday and plan to rally outside police headquarters on Monday night.

The increasingly violent protests since June have emerged as Hong Kong's most serious crisis in decades and become one of the biggest challenges to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he took power in 2012.

What began as opposition to a proposed bill to allow people to be extradited to mainland China to stand trial in Communist Party-controlled courts has evolved into calls for greater democracy in Hong Kong.

Demonstrators say they are fighting the erosion of the "one country, two systems" arrangement enshrining some autonomy for Hong Kong when China took it back in 1997.

They are calling on the government to listen to public demands particularly an independent investigation into the handling of the protests.

Beijing says criminals and agitators are stirring violence, encouraged by "interfering" foreign powers including Britain, but the protests seem to enjoy broad support in the city of more than 7 million people.

Police have arrested more than 600 people since the protests started more than two months ago. </s> HONG KONG, Aug 1 — Dozens of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters appeared in court yesterday after being charged with rioting, setting the stage for further unrest in a weeks-long crisis that has rocked the global financial hub.

The announcement on Tuesday night that 44 people had been charged with rioting — an offence that carries a jail term of up to 10 years — immediately triggered another round of clashes between police and protesters.

Supporters continued to voice their outrage as they stood for hours on Wednesday outside court, braving heavy winds and rain, as the accused rioters appeared before a judge.

“Release the righteous... no rioters, only tyranny... reclaim Hong Kong, the revolution of our times,” the supporters chanted.

The protesters were generally calm as they took turns to appear in front of the judge, who formally read the charges and granted them bail.

The range of their professions reflected the wide support across Hong Kong society for the pro-democracy movement.

They included a teacher, a nurse, an airline pilot, a barber, a chef, an electrician, a construction worker and unemployed people, according to their charge sheets.

A 16-year-old girl was also among the group.

Semi-autonomous Hong Kong has endured more than seven weeks of unrest that began with a government bid to introduce a law that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.

The protests evolved into a movement for deeper democratic reforms and an end to eroding freedoms, in the most significant challenge to Beijing's rule since the city's handover from Britain in 1997.

In the latest confrontation, police used pepper spray and batons against hundreds of protesters who had gathered outside a police station in solidarity with those who had just been charged.

Footage broadcast live on television showed an officer aiming a shotgun at protesters who were throwing objects at him.

Police said yesterday evening they had arrested three people after fireworks were fired from a car at protesters gathered outside another police station on Tuesday night.

The previous two weekends had seen a surge in the level of violence used by both protesters and police, who repeatedly fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse projectile-throwing crowds.

A mob of pro-government thugs also attacked protesters, putting 45 people in hospital.

The 44 protesters were charged for their alleged role in running battles between police and protesters in a well-heeled residential neighbourhood on the main island on Sunday.

The move to charge protesters with rioting came a day after Beijing publicly threw its weight behind Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam and the police, saying violent protesters must be swiftly punished.

“No civilised society or rule of law society will tolerate rampant violence,” Yang Guang, spokesman for the cabinet-level Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, told reporters.

But while Beijing has issued increasingly shrill condemnations of the protests, it has left the city's government to deal with the situation.

Lam has shown no sign of backing down beyond agreeing to suspend the extradition bill, and has made few public appearances.

Amnesty International said the charging of the 44 protesters with rioting was aimed at intimidating others from taking part in future pro-democracy rallies.

“By using such vague charges against pro-democracy protesters, the Hong Kong authorities seem intent on sending a chilling warning to anyone considering taking part in future protests,” the global human rights group's Hong Kong director, Man-kei Tam, said in a statement.

But protesters have vowed to keep their campaign going until their core demands are met.

They include Lam's resignation, an independent inquiry into police tactics, an amnesty for those arrested, a permanent withdrawal of the bill and the right to elect their leaders.

Under the terms of the 1997 handover deal from British to Chinese rule, Hong Kong enjoys rights and liberties unseen on the mainland, including an independent judiciary and freedom of speech.

But many say those rights are being curtailed, citing the disappearance into mainland custody of dissident booksellers, the disqualification of prominent politicians and the jailing of pro-democracy protest leaders.

Public anger has been compounded by rising inequality, the high costs of living and the perception that the city's distinct language and culture are being threatened by ever closer integration with the Chinese mainland. — AFP
A spokesperson for China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office releases a statement accusing violent protesters that threw petrol bombs at Hong Kong Police officers of being "terrorists", saying that a violent minority within the pro-democracy movement poses "a serious challenge to Hong Kong's prosperity and stability".