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Hong Kong gears up for pro-democracy rally after latest weekend of unrest

Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam is due to deliver her annual Policy Address on Wednesday amid pressure to restore confidence in the government as it grapples with the city’s biggest political crisis in decades.

Hong Kong gears up for pro-democracy rally after latest weekend of unrest

(Photo: IANS)

Hong Kong activists plan to rally on Monday evening after another weekend of unrest that saw protesters hurl petrol bombs and police fired tear gas and rubber bullets, as violence in the Chinese-ruled city shows no signs of letting up.

Activists said they planned to gather at Chater Garden in Admiralty district near government headquarters at 1100 GMT, a day after demonstrators rampaged across the territory.

Peaceful rallies descended into chaos on Sunday as activists and police clashed in chaotic scenes across the Asian financial hub. In one of the worst incidents, an officer was slashed in the neck by a protester and taken to hospital.

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According to police, protesters threw more than 20 petrol bombs at a police station in the gritty working-class district of Mong Kok across the harbour in Kowloon and vandalized metro stations as well as mainland Chinese businesses or that deemed pro- Beijing.

Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam is due to deliver her annual Policy Address on Wednesday amid pressure to restore confidence in the government as it grapples with the city’s biggest political crisis in decades.

On Sunday, the government said that it found it “baffling” that visiting US Senator Ted Cruz said he had not seen any violent acts by protesters.

“While we respect the freedom of speech of foreign politicians, we consider that comments should be based on facts,” the government said.

On Saturday, Lam had to meet Cruz but because of some other commitment, she had to cancel the meeting

Earlier on Thursday, hundreds of people took to streets for an anti-government march in Hong Kong a day after a female university student claimed to be a victim of police “sexual violence”.

The demonstrators, most of them were wearing masks in defiance of a new law banning them at public gatherings of more than 50 persons, spilt onto the tramway in Central, chanting slogans such as “Disbanding the police force brooks no delay” and “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong”.

Last week, Hong Kong’s entire mass transit rail system was suspended after a night of violence sparked by a ban on pro-democracy protesters wearing face masks, as the government imposed emergency powers not used in more than half a century.

The ban was imposed under emergency powers not used in more than half a century that aimed at quelling nearly four months of unrest but instead triggered mass protests and vows of defiance, with a 14-year-old boy reportedly shot and wounded.

Earlier in the month, Lam had introduced a ban on people wearing masks at public rallies, colonial-era emergency legislation that has not been used in more than half a century.

The controversial China extradition bill was withdrawn in early September but the movement has morphed into a wider campaign for greater democracy and against alleged police brutality.

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