Chaotic standoff: A protester throwing a tear gas canister during a demonstration against the proposed extradition Bill in Hong Kong. — Reuters
HONG KONG: Hong Kong police fired tear gas and high-pressure water hoses against protesters who had massed outside government headquarters in opposition to a proposed extradition Bill that has become a lightning rod for concerns over greater Chinese control and erosion of civil liberties in the semiautonomous territory.The afternoon violence yesterday marked a major escalation in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s biggest political crisis in years.
It came after protesters earlier in the day forced the delay of a legislative debate over the Bill, which would allow criminal suspects in Hong Kong to be sent for trial in mainland China.
