Police fired tear gas as thousands of anti-government protesters fanned out across Hong Kong on Tuesday, posing a direct challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping as he celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
PROTESTS TURN INTO CHAOS
Peaceful protests descended into chaos with police firing volleys of tear gas outside a famous Taoist temple in the residential district of Wong Tai Sin and the New Territories area of Sha Tin.
More than 150 people were arrested over the weekend, police said in a news conference Monday. On Friday, police announced that a total of 1,578 people had been arrested over the course of the protests.
Nearly four months of street clashes and demonstrations have plunged the former British colony into its biggest political crisis in decades and pose the gravest popular challenge to President Xi since he came to power.
