Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters extended a blockade of Hong Kong streets on Tuesday, stockpiling supplies and erecting makeshift barricades ahead of what some fear may be a push by police to clear the roads before Chinese National Day.
About 100 protesters in Taiwan on Monday demanded that all economic and political talks with China end immediately in a show of support for the democracy protests in Hong Kong.
Riot police advanced on Hong Kong democracy protesters in the early hours of Monday, firing volleys of tear gas after launching a baton-charge in the worst unrest there since China took back control of the former British colony two decades ago.
Violent clashes between Hong Kong riot police and students galvanized tens of thousands of supporters for the city's pro-democracy movement and kick-started a plan to lock down the heart of the Asian financial center early on Sunday.
Hong Kong riot police used pepper spray on Saturday to disperse dozens of students who had stormed government headquarters, but an equal number held their ground in protests against Beijing's tightening grip on the city.
Hundreds of children joined students demanding greater democracy for Hong Kong on Friday, capping a week-long campaign that has seen a large cut-out depicting the territory's leader as the devil paraded through the city and calls for him to resign.
Hong Kong students are preparing for a showdown with Beijing over democratic reforms by boycotting classes on Monday, as a restive younger generation challenges the Chinese Communist Party's tightening grip on the city.
China's most senior official in Hong Kong, Zhang Xiaoming, said on Friday that remarks he had made to pro-democracy lawmakers in an August 19 meeting had been misrepresented in media reports.
Just days before China was set to deliver its edict on electoral reform in Hong Kong, Beijing’s most senior official in the city held a rare meeting with several local lawmakers whose determined push for full democracy had incensed Beijing's Communist leaders.
A pro-democracy movement that has threatened to blockade Hong Kong's financial district has said Beijing "brutally strangled" its fight for full democracy and vowed to take action.
Hong Kong police used pepper spray to disperse pro-democracy activists on Monday as the Asian financial center braces for a wave of disruptive protests against China's decision to rule out full democracy.
Hong Kong is poised for a showdown with China when the Chinese parliament meets later on Sunday, with the largely rubber-stamp body likely to snuff out hopes for a democratic breakthrough in the regional financial hub at elections due in 2017.
