PRO-DEMOCRACY protests in Hong Kong have escalated, a day after demonstrators upset over Beijing's decision to limit political reforms defied onslaughts of tear gas and appeals from the territory's top leader to go home.
Hong Kong's chief executive Leung Chun-ying reassured the public speculation the Chinese army might intervene was untrue.
Beijing-backed Mr Leung, who is deeply unpopular, said: "I hope the public will keep calm. Don't be misled by the rumours. Police will strive to maintain social order, including ensuring smooth traffic and ensuring the public safety."
Police tried to negotiate with protesters camped out on a normally busy road near government headquarters that was the scene of the tear gas-fuelled clashes that erupted on Sunday.
Protesters also occupied streets in other parts of Hong Kong Island, including the wealthy shopping area of Causeway Bay and the Wan Chai nightlife district as well as across the harbour in densely populated Mong Kok on the Kowloon peninsula.
Roads in those areas were closed.
More than 200 bus routes have been cancelled or diverted in a city dependent on public transport. Tube station exits have also been closed or blocked near protest areas.
The mass protest, which has gathered support from high school pupils to pensioners, is the strongest challenge yet to Beijing's decision to limit democratic reforms for the semi-autonomous city, formerly a British colony.
Authorities said some schools in areas near the main protest site would be closed.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article