Police in Hong Kong fire tear gas at anti-government protesters

Police in Hong Kong fire tear gas at anti-government protesters

Police in Hong Kong have again clashed with pro-democracy protesters in another weekend of unrest.

On Saturday, riot police fired tear gas at the demonstrators.

Meanwhile, groups loyal to the Chinese government began tearing down anti-government messages from the so-called Lennon walls, named after the Beatles singer.

The installations have blossomed across the Asian financial centre, at bus stops and shopping centres, under footbridges and along pedestrian walkways.

They have also occasionally become hot spots of violence in more than three months of unrest.

There were fears that the protesters and the pro-Beijing groups might also clash.

Hong Kong’s protests picked up in June over legislation, now withdrawn, that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial. Demands have since broadened into calls for universal suffrage.

The anti-government protesters remain angry about what they see as creeping interference by Beijing in Hong Kong.

It was returned by Britain to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that ensures it enjoys more freedoms than the mainland.