Hong Kong protesters clash with police

Moments later, another officer appeared to fire two warning shots into the air.

Police later said they did not expect another riot Tuesday when fireworks have been planned, but they will increase the numbers of officers on patrol as a precautionary measure.

Officials said they were investigating if the violence was arranged beforehand.

After six hours of conflict early Tuesday, street fires in the Mong Kok neighborhood burned among overturned bins, trash piles, and bricks pulled free from sidewalk.

Acting district commander Yau Siu-kei said 23 men and a woman aged 17 to 70 were arrested on suspicion of assaulting and obstructing officers, resisting arrest and public disorder.

RTHK radio then announced that dozens of people were arrested.

This offence carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. The cause of the melee was when authorities attempted to remove illegal street stalls set up for the Monday start of the Spring Festival. Vendors’ rights might seem like an obscure cause for activists to take on, but the use of force against a local tradition that had always been tolerated by the city’s relatively easy-going political system, is just the sort of thing to push the buttons of those who see Hong Kong’s culture and freedoms now threatened.

While the protests were abandoned after two months, radical protesters and “localists” – activists who are strongly against rule by Beijing and many of whom are based around the Mong Kok area.

About 300 rioters arrived over the course of the clash and they attacked police that arrived on scene with bricks, stones and other makeshift weapons.

Video footage of the violence showed people in civilian clothes being carried away on stretchers or given first aid by police, some streaming with blood after being hit by police batons.

It later reopened and the district was quiet later in the day.

Over 90 police officers and 4 reporters were injured in the unrest.

Hong Kong TV showed officers lying on the ground being beaten with sticks and poles, along with pictures of protesters and police with blood on their faces.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying Tuesday morning severely condemned an overnight riot that caused at least 48 police officers injured and supported the police to restore social order.

Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year celebration descended into chaotic scenes as protesters and poli…

“Leugn added, reported by BBC News, “the police will spare no effort to arrest the rioters”.

There is particular concern at the fate of five Hong Kong based-booksellers believed to be detained in mainland China after disappearing past year.