Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Hong Kong is one of the few places in Chinese territory where an annual remembrance vigil can be held.

Tens of thousands of people have gathered in Hong Kong to mark the 30th anniversary of the crackdown on protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Hong Kong and Macau are the only places in Chinese territory where people can commemorate the activists killed in 1989.

China has never given an official figure for how many people died, but estimates begin in the hundreds.

Organisers say 180,000 people joined a vigil in the city's Victoria Park.

But police put the number of attendees at under 40,000.

In mainland China, the authorities have banned even oblique references to the crackdown, which took place after weeks of mass protests that were tolerated by the government. The numbers gathered in and around Tiananmen Square are estimated to have reached a peak of one million people.

Hundreds of security personnel and police were monitoring the square in Beijing on Tuesday.

Refusing to forget

by Grace Tsoi, BBC World Service, Hong Kong

Image copyright Reuters

Hong Kong's Victoria Park is once again a sea of candlelight as far as the eye can see.

The crowd, many dressed in black, is mostly silent whilst holding up their candles in mourning. Some are crying. In between protest songs, they chant "the people will not forget".

The crowd claps and cheers when Liane Lee - who took part in the 1989 protests - shouts: "We refuse to forget. We refuse to believe the lies".

Standing watching is Teresa Chan. She has attended the commemoration every year since 1990, except once when she was ill.

"I wanted to go Beijing to be with the movement but I couldn't," she says. "I never imagined it would end the way it did, it's very hard to forget."

But there are also new faces in the crowd this year.

Image caption Protestor Teresa Chan has come to the protest in Hong Kong nearly every year

Ms Leung, who is in her 30s, says she decided to come for the first time because she is worried about Hong Kong's future.

"I am very angry with what the Chinese government is doing here," she says.

Amongst the remembrance flowers and candles, there are posters protesting against proposed amendments to laws concerning extraditions to mainland China. Many fear the changes will lead to the further erosion of civil liberties here in Hong Kong.

Here in Victoria Park are also some mainland Chinese residents like Mr Zeng who travelled to Hong Kong with his wife and 11-year-old daughter just to attend tonight's event.

His daughter says it's an eye-opening experience. "I am here to learn the real history about China. Now I feel like China is no better than other countries," she says.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Returning to Tiananmen Square for the first time

The vigils in Hong Kong come at a sensitive time for its leadership, with public backlash over a proposed bill that would allow fugitives captured in the city to be extradited to mainland China.

Smaller vigils are also expected 64km (40 miles) away in Macau's city centre, and on the self-governing island of Taiwan.

Image copyright AFP Image caption The gatherings come at a sensitive time for Hong Kong's leadership

The Tiananmen anniversary earlier prompted a war of words between Washington and Beijing. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticised China's human rights record and called on it to finally reveal how many people died in the crackdown.

In response, a Chinese embassy spokesman in Washington DC said his comments were "an affront to the Chinese people".

On Tuesday, China issued separate travel warnings to its citizens travelling to the US, citing police harassment and crime.

Its foreign ministry accused American law enforcement agencies of "harassing" Chinese citizens in the US through immigration checks and other methods.

What happened in 1989?

Pro-democracy protesters occupied Tiananmen Square in April 1989 and began the largest political demonstrations in communist China's history. They lasted six weeks.

On the night of 3 June tanks moved in and troops opened fire, killing and injuring many unarmed people in and around Tiananmen Square.

Afterwards the authorities claimed no-one had been shot dead in the square itself. Estimates of those killed in the crackdown range from a few hundred to several thousand.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Wang Dan one of the leaders of the Tiananmen Square protests

At the weekend, Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe made a rare mention of the protests during a regional forum in Singapore.

"That incident was a political turbulence and the central government took measures to stop the turbulence, which is a correct policy," he said in response to a question.

He added that because of the action the government took, "China has enjoyed stability and development". </s> HONG KONG/BEIJING, June 4 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands joined a somber candlelight vigil in Hong Kong on Tuesday to mark the 30th anniversary of Chinese troops opening fire on student-led democracy protesters in and around Tiananmen Square, as authorities in Beijing went into lockdown.

Demonstrators gathered in the financial hub's Victoria Park, holding up candles and placards as others rallied next to a replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue, which was erected in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 demonstrations in Beijing.

Nearby, a life-size replica of Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese Nobel Peace Prize-winning political dissident who died in 2017 while in custody, floated in a waterway adorned with flowers.

As tens of thousands thronged Hong Kong for the annual vigil, censors at Chinese internet companies said tools to detect and block content related to the 1989 crackdown had reached unprecedented levels of accuracy.

In the former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems formula" that guarantees rights and freedoms not seen on the mainland, organizers said 180,000 joined the peaceful vigil, filling six football fields.

In comparison, authorities in mainland China, where the anniversary remains taboo, deployed a security blanket in and around Tiananmen Square. China has never provided a death toll for the 1989 violence. Rights groups and witnesses say it could run into the thousands.

"It is very important that Hong Kong people continue to remember the June 4 tragedy, and indeed, preserve the memory," said Richard Tsoi, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

"And don't let the Chinese authority try to erase the memory for the whole nation."

Veteran Hong Kong democracy campaigner and Baptist cleric Chu Yiu-ming who was in his mid-40s when he joined demonstrators around Tiananmen Square in 1989, just before the bloody crackdown, was overcome with emotion.

"I swear, as long as someone suffers and is humiliated, I have to voice it," he said.

Tourists thronged Tiananmen Square earlier on Tuesday amid tighter-than-usual security, although most visitors approached by Reuters said they were unaware of the bloody crackdown on student-led protests 30 years ago or would not discuss it.

The anniversary of the crackdown is not spoken of openly in China and is not formally marked by the government.

A 67-year-old man surnamed Li, sitting on a bench about a 10-minute walk from the square, said he remembered the events of June 4, 1989, and its aftermath clearly.

"I was on my way back home from work. Changan Avenue was strewn with burned-out vehicles. The People's Liberation Army killed many people. It was a bloodbath," he said.

Asked if he thought the government should give a full account of the violence, he said: "What's the point? These students died for nothing."

Refinitiv, a company that provides data and news to the financial services industry and was spun-off from the parent company of Reuters last year, has removed some Reuters stories on Tiananmen Square from its subscriber terminals. Reuters says its coverage is not affected.

Among the students' demands in 1989 were a free press and freedom of speech, disclosure of leaders' assets and freedom to demonstrate. However, exiled former protest leaders say those goals are further away in China than ever because the government has in the past decade suppressed a civil society nurtured by years of economic development.

Tiananmen also remains a point of contention between China and many Western countries, which have implored Chinese leaders to account for giving the People's Liberation Army (PLA) the order to open fire on their own people.

China's foreign ministry denounced criticism by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who called for China to release all political prisoners and offered his salute to "the heroes of the Chinese people who bravely stood up 30 years ago in Tiananmen Square to demand their rights."

The vigil in Hong Kong is the biggest on Chinese soil. Smaller vigils are held in the former Portuguese territory of Macau and the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own.

In Taiwan's capital Taipei, a few hundred people gathered at Liberty Square for an event marked by documentaries, speeches and a dance dedicated to mothers of those who were killed in the Tiananmen crackdown.

"I'm very ashamed. I repent wholeheartedly," Li Xiaoming, a former PLA officer who participated in the military crackdown told the crowd from a stage in Taipei.

"The reason that I spoke up today is that I don't want people to forget the events of June 4," said Li, who is now an Australian citizen, as he burst into tears.

Back in Beijing, hundreds of uniformed and plainclothes police monitored the square and its surroundings, conducting spot ID checks and inspecting car trunks. Thousands of visitors lined up at security checkpoints to enter the square, many carrying tour group flags.

A male tourist in his 30s near the square, who gave his family name as Zhang, said he had no idea about the anniversary.

"Never heard of it," he said. "I'm not aware of this."

The United Nations had received reports of detentions, threats and increased censorship ahead of the anniversary, U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva.

"We have made our concerns known to the Chinese government and we are working to also verify these reports that we have received," she said.

While the June 4 vigil is an annual event in Hong Kong, it comes at a sensitive time for the city's leaders this year as they grapple with a backlash at home and abroad over a proposed extradition bill that would for the first time allow fugitives captured in the city to be sent to mainland China for trial.

Critics of the bill plan to protest in Hong Kong on Sunday, with rally organizers calling for 300,000 people to take to the streets. (Reporting by James Pomfret and Jessie Pang in Hong Kong, Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina in Beijing; Additional reporting by Cate Cadell in BEIJING, Yimou Lee in TAIPEI, David Lawder in WASHINGTON and Stephanie Nebehay and Marina Depetris in GENEVA Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Peter Graff) </s> Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong are preparing for a candlelight vigil commemorating the Tiananmen protests and remembering the victims of the crackdown.

The semi-autonomous territory is the only region under Beijing’s jurisdiction which has a significant public commemoration of the 1989 crackdown.

Hong Kong has a degree of freedom not seen on the mainland as a legacy of British rule.

The event beginning at 8pm Tuesday is expected to attract tens of thousands of participants.

At the University of Hong Kong, a dozen students laid bouquets at the Pillar Of Shame, a sculpture by Danish artist Jens Galschiot commemorating the crackdown’s victims.

“Just because I wasn’t born then and never experienced the event, there’s no stopping me from reminding others like me of this and carrying on the collective memory,” said student Donald Chung, 18. </s> Tens of thousands joined a sombre candlelight vigil in Hong Kong on Tuesday to mark the 30th anniversary of Chinese troops opening fire on student-led democracy protesters in and around Tiananmen Square, as authorities in Beijing went into lockdown.

Demonstrators gathered in the financial hub's Victoria Park, holding up candles and placards as others rallied next to a replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue, which was erected in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 demonstrations in Beijing and looked like the US Statue of Liberty.

Nearby, a life-size replica of Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese Nobel Peace Prize-winning political dissident who died in 2017 while in custody, floated in a waterway adorned with flowers.

As tens of thousands thronged Hong Kong for the annual vigil, censors at Chinese internet companies said tools to detect and block content related to the 1989 crackdown had reached unprecedented levels of accuracy.

In the former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems formula" that guarantees rights and freedoms not seen on the mainland, organisers said 180,000 joined the peaceful vigil, filling six football fields.

Analysts believe the high turnout is a reflection of a common concern people share on a new extradition law coming up in China.

"Hong Kong is frightened and scared," Keith Richburg, from the University of Hong Kong told Al Jazeera.

"People are really afraid of a new extradition law that is coming into effect that would allow people to be shipped over the border to mainland China to face trial ... so people are [worried] that China has slowly been chipping away at Hong Kong's rights, chipping away at Hong Kong's legal system," he added.

In comparison, authorities in mainland China, where the anniversary remains taboo, deployed a security blanket in and around Tiananmen Square. China has never provided a death toll for the 1989 violence. Rights groups and witnesses say it could run into the thousands.

"Everybody is concerned about Tiananmen after 30 years," Wei Fenghe, China's minister of defence said on Sunday, in rare official comments about the repression.

"[In the past] 30 years, China, under the Communist Party, has undergone many changes. Do you think the government was wrong with the handling of June 4th? There was a conclusion to that incident. That was a political turmoil, that the central government needed to quell," Fenghe added.

But analysts believe that the course of action China has taken has not led to good changes.

Richburg said the Chinese government has been able to successfully control dissent through several means, including creating "a massive surveillance state.

"They have also been able to isolate themselves by wrapping themselves in the nationalist flag, so any criticism of China becomes a criticism of the Chinese people and the Chinese culture .. the government has also been insulated by a very strong economy, they have been saying ... leave us alone to rule the country, and we will keep the economy growing ... just don't get involved in politics."

The vigil in Hong Kong is the largest on Chinese soil. Smaller vigils are held in the former Portuguese territory of Macau and the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own.

Tourists thronged Tiananmen Square earlier on Tuesday amid tighter-than-usual security, although most visitors approached by Reuters said they were unaware of the bloody crackdown on student-led protests 30 years ago, or would not discuss it.

The anniversary of the repression is not spoken of openly in China and is not formally marked by the government.

A 67-year-old man surnamed Li, sitting on a bench about a 10-minute walk from the square, said he remembered the events of June 4, 1989, and its aftermath clearly.

"I was on my way back home from work. Changan Avenue was strewn with burned-out vehicles. The People's Liberation Army killed many people. It was a bloodbath," he said.

Asked if he thought the government should give a full account of the violence, he said: "What's the point? These students died for nothing."

Tiananmen also remains a point of contention between China and many Western countries, which have implored Chinese leaders to account for giving the People's Liberation Army (PLA) the order to open fire on their own people.

China's foreign ministry denounced criticism by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who called for China to release all political prisoners and offered his salute to "the heroes of the Chinese people who bravely stood up 30 years ago in Tiananmen Square to demand their rights". </s> HONG KONG — Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong were preparing for a candlelight vigil Tuesday commemorating the 30th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen crackdown, underscoring concern for Chinese human rights in the semi-autonomous territory, even as its own civil liberties are under threat.

Hong Kong is the only region under Beijing's jurisdiction that holds significant public commemorations of the 1989 crackdown and memorials for its victims. Hong Kong has a degree of freedom not seen on the mainland as a legacy of British rule that ended in 1997.

The annual event beginning at 8 p.m. at Hong Kong's Victoria Park near the bustling Causeway Bay shopping district is expected to attract tens of thousands of participants.

This year's vigil will feature a replica of the "Goddess of Democracy," a plaster sculpture of a female figure holding a torch that was displayed in Tiananmen Square in the days leading up to the 1989 crackdown, which took place on the night of June 3-4 and is believed to have killed hundreds and possibly thousands of people.

"That statue was crushed by tanks at the June 4 crackdown, the June 4 massacre. So we are rebuilding this here ... to symbolize that we are still continuing to fight for democracy, and continue on the spirit of the '89 democratic protests," said Chow Hang Tung, vice chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, which organizes the annual vigil.

Visitor Winnie Ma, a 55-year-old church worker, said she brought her 80-year-old mother out to the park especially to view the statue on the 30th anniversary.

"I don't know if she will see it vindicated, but I hope that I will be able to," Ma said.

Meanwhile, at the University of Hong Kong, a dozen students laid flower bouquets at the "Pillar of Shame," a sculpture by Danish artist Jens Galschiot commemorating the crackdown's victims.

"Just because I wasn't born then and never experienced the event, there's no stopping me from reminding others like me of this and carrying on the collective memory," said 18-year-old student Donald Chung.

Thirty years ago, the Tiananmen protesters gained widespread support and sympathy from residents of Hong Kong, whose return to Chinese rule had been agreed upon just years earlier. Hong Kong supporters helped sustain the protests with donated funds and equipment and, following the crackdown, mobilized to smuggle wanted student leaders out of the country, sometimes with the assistance of organized crime groups known as triads.

The spirit of political activism has now passed to a younger generation, crystalizing in the 2014 Occupy protests, also known as the Umbrella Movement, which laid siege to Hong Kong government headquarters and paralyzed the city's financial district for 79 days.

The movement fizzled with no concessions from the Hong Kong government for free elections, and the authorities have since cracked down hard on its leaders, sentencing nine in April on public nuisance and other charges.

More recently, activists, as well as business and legal associations, have protested amendments making it easier to send criminal suspects in Hong Kong to mainland China, where they could face vague national security charges and unfair trials.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been seen as extending his crackdown on civil liberties to Hong Kong, threatening the territory's promised semi-autonomy.

A march against the amendments is scheduled for Sunday ahead of the government's expected push for passage on June 12. </s> HONG KONG (AP) — Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong were preparing for a candlelight vigil Tuesday commemorating the 30th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen crackdown, underscoring concern for Chinese human rights in the semi-autonomous territory, even as its own civil liberties are under threat.

Hong Kong is the only region under Beijing's jurisdiction that holds significant public commemorations of the 1989 crackdown and memorials for its victims. Hong Kong has a degree of freedom not seen on the mainland as a legacy of British rule that ended in 1997.

The annual evening event at Hong Kong's Victoria Park near the bustling Causeway Bay shopping district is expected to attract tens of thousands of participants.

This year's vigil will feature a replica of the "Goddess of Democracy," a plaster sculpture of a female figure holding a torch that was displayed in Tiananmen Square in the days leading up to the 1989 crackdown, which took place on the night of June 3-4 and is believed to have killed hundreds and possibly thousands of people.

"That statue was crushed by tanks at the June 4 crackdown, the June 4 massacre. So we are rebuilding this here ... to symbolize that we are still continuing to fight for democracy, and continue on the spirit of the '89 democratic protests," said Chow Hang Tung, vice chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, which organizes the annual vigil.

Visitor Winnie Ma, a 55-year-old church worker, said she brought her 80-year-old mother to the park especially to view the statue on the 30th anniversary.

"I don't know if she will see it vindicated, but I hope that I will be able to," Ma said.

Meanwhile, at the University of Hong Kong, a dozen students laid flower bouquets at the "Pillar of Shame," a sculpture by Danish artist Jens Galschiot commemorating the crackdown's victims.

"Just because I wasn't born then and never experienced the event, there's no stopping me from reminding others like me of this and carrying on the collective memory," said 18-year-old student Donald Chung.

Students later observed a minute of silence in remembrance of the crackdown's victims before scrubbing the pillar clean in an annual ritual.

Recent years have witnessed a generational divide about how best to memorialize the crackdown, and since 2015, Hong Kong university students have arranged their own commemorations separate from the main candlelight vigil.

"People who attend the vigil consider themselves Chinese. We disagree with this identity," said Jordan Pang, acting chair of the Hong Kong University Students' Union's current affairs committee.

"I think the young generation and most students consider themselves Hong Kongers. If we need to commemorate, we do not want to use (the vigil) to commemorate," Pang said.

Despite its pro-democracy theme, young Hong Kongers see the vigil as promoting Chinese nationalism, said Samson Yuen, a professor of political science at Hong Kong's Lingnan University.

"They argue that Hong Kong needs to determine its own future. Hong Kong may need to seek independence from China and they believe that June 4 is a battleground," Yuen said.

Thirty years ago, the Tiananmen protesters gained widespread support and sympathy from residents of Hong Kong, whose return to Chinese rule had been agreed upon just years earlier. Hong Kong supporters helped sustain the protests with donated funds and equipment and, following the crackdown, mobilized to smuggle wanted student leaders out of the country, sometimes with the assistance of organized crime groups known as triads.

The spirit of political activism has now passed to a younger generation, crystalizing in the 2014 Occupy protests, also known as the Umbrella Movement, which laid siege to Hong Kong government headquarters and paralyzed the city's financial district for 79 days.

The movement fizzled with no concessions from the Hong Kong government for free elections, and the authorities have since cracked down hard on its leaders, sentencing nine in April on public nuisance and other charges.

More recently, activists, as well as business and legal associations, have protested amendments making it easier to send criminal suspects in Hong Kong to mainland China, where they could face vague national security charges and unfair trials.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been seen as extending his crackdown on civil liberties to Hong Kong, threatening the territory's promised semi-autonomy.

A march against the amendments is scheduled for Sunday ahead of the government's expected push for passage on June 12.

The extradition law amendments have put China's chosen Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on the defensive. On Monday, she announced further changes aimed at placating critics.

Asked Tuesday whether she agreed with China's justifications for the army crackdown in 1989, Lam did not answer directly, but said Hong Kong was a "very free society" that upholds the rights and freedoms of individuals.

"So today, if there are public gatherings to express their views and feelings on a particular historic incident, we fully respect those views," Lam said.

Meanwhile in Taiwan, the self-governing island's president, Tsai Ing-wen, took to Facebook to highlight the contrast between her democratically elected government and China's authoritarian communist system.

Tsai said China had shown that it not only had no intention of reflecting on "that year's mistake" but also planned to continue covering up the truth about the 1989 crackdown.

She cited comments Sunday by China's defense minister at a forum in Singapore defending the army's bloody assault on protesters and Beijing citizens, as well as Hong Kong's refusal to allow entry to former student leader Feng Congde.

"Please rest easy, Taiwan will absolutely adhere to democracy, adhere to freedom, regardless of threats or infiltration. As long as I am president for just one day, there is no way Taiwan will yield to pressure," Tsai wrote.

China considers Taiwan its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary. Beijing has proposed ruling Taiwan under the same "one country, two systems" formula applied to Hong Kong, something the islands voters have overwhelmingly rejected.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> HONG KONG (AP) — As pro-democracy protests took hold in China in 1989, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of neighboring Hong Kong to show their support.

Associated Press photographer Vincent Yu, just starting his career at the news service, covered the Hong Kong demonstrations, which continued even after a June 3-4 military crackdown at Beijing's Tiananmen Square ended the student-led protests in mainland China.

His images are preserved in black and white prints with typed captions attached, the way he transmitted the photos to AP editors in Tokyo in the pre-internet era. The shots are raucous in the early days, when protesters shouted slogans denouncing hard-line Chinese leaders, and tearful at the end, when they remembered those who had been killed.

Today, with any marking of the Tiananmen crackdown banned in mainland China, it is in Hong Kong where the victims are remembered in an annual candlelight vigil. Citizens of the former British colony, which was returned to China in 1997, have more freedom than mainland Chinese, though some worry those liberties are being eroded. </s> Beijing: Over a million people marched through Hong Kong city streets on Sunday evening in a massive protest against a bill that would allow people to be extradited to mainland China.

Violence erupted after midnight, as thousands of students attempted a sit-in outside Hong Kong’s legislative council after the march, but were dispersed by police in riot gear using pepper spray and batons.

The organiser's estimate of 1.03 million people marching the three kilometres from Victoria Park would make it the biggest protest since the former British colony was returned to China in 1997.

At handover, China and Britain had agreed Hong Kong would operate under "One Country, Two Systems", allowing Hong Kong's limited government control over immigration, borders and a separate legal system. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage of the incident was shared on Telegram and Twitter

At least 10 people were injured when fireworks were shot from a moving car into a crowd of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.

Video on social media showed people running for cover as fiery trails were shot towards them outside a police station in Tin Shui Wai district.

The activists had been supporting a small number of protesters who had been detained inside the station.

Tensions are high in Hong Kong after weeks of anti-government protests.

The incident early on Wednesday came as more than 40 activists appeared in court charged with rioting, after a protest on Sunday ended in violent clashes with police.

If convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison.

Campaigner Jack Hazlewood posted videos of the attacks collated from the private messaging app Telegram and other online sources.

Footage from Tin Shui Wai showed the car from which the attack was launched speeding away. The attackers have not been identified.

Police "strongly condemned" those responsible and said they were investigating.

It was the second time this month that pro-democracy activists had been attacked.

On 21 July, men dressed in white shirts and believed to be triad gangsters assaulted protesters and passers-by in the Yuen Long area, after some demonstrators had stormed China's central government building and defaced the national emblem.

Protesters alleged that the gangsters were acting at the behest of the authorities, a claim strongly denied by the government and police.

Elsewhere in Hong Kong, another crowd braved an approaching typhoon to gather outside a court where 44 people were charged with rioting. It is the first time the Hong Kong government has used the charge in connection with these anti-government protests.

The protesters chanted "revolution of our time" and "liberate Hong Kong".

The 44 were released on bail until September and most were given a midnight curfew.

Those gathered outside were in defiant mood.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Protesters chased officers and threw projectiles but other demonstrators urged them to stop (EVN/ Aaron McNicholas)

"I'm not scared to protest. This whole thing today is just making me more angry," said one protester, who gave his name as Gartner.

China has largely allowed Hong Kong's authorities to deal with the protests but fears are growing that it could step in if disruption continues.

In a rare intervention, China's top policy office in Hong Kong condemned Sunday's violent clashes as "horrendous incidents" that have caused "serious damage to the rule of law".

A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office insisted that the territory's "top priority" was to "restore social order".

How did we get here?

Demonstrations in Hong Kong began over a controversial bill that would have enabled extraditions to mainland China.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Nick Beake described the "chaos" on the streets over the weekend

The government has since paused work on the bill, but protesters want it withdrawn completely.

The demonstrations have also broadened into a wider movement, with activists demanding democratic reform and an independent inquiry into police violence.

As a former British colony, Hong Kong has its own legal and judicial systems, and has been promised "a high degree of autonomy" from the Chinese government except in foreign and defence affairs.
Tens of thousands of people gather in Hong Kong to mark the 30th anniversary of the crackdown on protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Hong Kong is one of the two places in China where people can openly commemorate the event, the other being Macau, to a lesser extent; elsewhere in China, the authorities have banned and blocked any reference to the crackdown.