Hong Kong police threaten to use live bullets if 'rioters' use lethal weapons

Protesters clash with police outside Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in Hong Kong, China November 17, 2019. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong police threatened on Monday to respond with live bullets if "rioters" used lethal weapons and committed other acts of violence, amid a standoff with protesters who have been hurling petrol bombs outside a university campus.

Police issued a statement urging people they described as rioters to stop using lethal weapons to attack officers, adding that police would respond with force and could use bullets if they did not.