While the world is celebrating the birth of Christ, development in Hong Kong seems like the citizens are oblivious about the celebration going on around strategic places in the world as civil unrest sweeps major streets in the State.
As demonstrators gathered again in a number of shopping districts to register their discomfort against the incumbent government and it policies, police retaliate with tear gas and pepper spray.
The latest protests began on Christmas Eve, with police battling activists who were throwing petrol bombs.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said many residents and tourists had seen their Christmas celebrations “ruined by a group of reckless and selfish rioters”.
“Such illegal acts have not only dampened the festive mood but also adversely affected local businesses,” she said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
The civil unrest began in June, focusing on a bill that would have allowed the extradition of suspects to mainland China.
The bill was later withdrawn, but demonstrations have since evolved into a broader movement demanding investigations into police brutality and democratic reform.
The protests, had been largely peaceful in recent weeks,but turned more confrontational over the festive season.
On Wednesday, hundreds of activists marched through shopping centers shouting slogans such as “Liberate Hong Kong! Revolution of our times!” Police arrested several people after using pepper spray.
The clashes were on a lesser scale than Tuesday, when activists set up barricades and threw petrol bombs in shopping malls across the city, while police used pepper spray and batons.
Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997, after which it was returned to China under the “one country, two systems” arrangement.
Under the agreement, Hong Kong is expected to have a high degree of autonomy from mainland China, and residents enjoy more freedoms than those on the mainland.
