HK police fire tear gas after thousands appeal to Trump

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the upmarket Causeway Bay shopping district on Sunday, after demonstrators had rallied at the US Consulate calling for help in bringing democracy to the Chinese-ruled city, a UK based news agency reported.

Police moved on protesters from the Central business district who dispersed to nearby Admiralty, the bar district of Wan Chai and on to Causeway Bay in a now familiar pattern of cat-and-mouse clashes over three months of unrest.

Activists set barricades, smashed windows, started street fires and vandalized the MTR metro station in Central, the smartest district of the former British colony.Central district, home to banks, jewelry shops and top-brand shopping arcades, was awash in graffiti, broken glass and bricks torn up from pathways. Protesters set fires from cardboard boxes, building barricades with metal fencing.

“We can’t leave because there are riot police,” said protesters Oscar, 20, in Causeway Bay. “They fired tear gas from the station. We are heading to North Point.”Thousands of protesters earlier sang the Star Spangled Banner and called on US President Donald Trump to “liberate” the city. They waved the Stars and Stripes and placards demanding democracy.

“Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong,” they shouted before handing over petitions at the US Consulate. “Resist Beijing, liberate Hong Kong.”US Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Saturday urged China to exercise restraint in Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.