Thousands of protesters took to Hong Kong's streets again today for two new demonstrations after police fired tear gas at the crowds last night.
The Chinese-controlled city has been rocked by months of protests against a proposed bill to allow people to be extradited to stand trial in mainland China.
Adding to the tensions, a general strike aimed at bringing the city to a halt is planned for tomorrow and hundreds of the people marching today were heard calling for this to happen.
Last night police fired multiple tear gas rounds in confrontations with black-clad activists, some carrying umbrellas, in the city's Kowloon area.
Police said in a statement early on Sunday that they had arrested more than 20 people for offences overnight including unlawful assembly and assault.
Today thousands of demonstrators marched peacefully in the town of Tseung Kwan O in the New Territories brandishing colourful banners and leaflets.
Dressed in black the protesters cheered as they called for a mass strike across Hong Kong on Monday. Since Occupy Central protests in 2014, umbrellas have been a prime symbol of the city's pro-democracy movements
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They're trying to tell the government to withdraw the extradition bill and to police to stop the investigations and the violence, said Gabriel Lee, a 21-year-old technology student.
Lee said what made him most angry was that the government was not responding to any of the protesters' demands or examining the police violence.
Protesters on Saturday set fires in the streets, outside a police station and in rubbish bins, and blocked the entrance to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, cutting a major artery linking Hong Kong island and the Kowloon peninsula.
Major shops in the popular tourist and commercial area Nathan Road, normally packed on a Saturday, were shuttered including 7-11 convenience stores, jewellery chain Chow Tai Fook and watch brands Rolex and Tudor.
What started as an angry response to the now suspended extradition bill, has expanded to demands for greater democracy and the resignation of leader Carrie Lam.
The protests have become the most serious political crisis in Hong Kong since it returned to Chinese rule 22 years ago after being governed by Britain.
Thousands of civil servants joined in the anti-government protests on Friday for the first time since they started in June, defying a warning from authorities to remain politically neutral.
The protests also mark the biggest popular challenge to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he took office in 2012.
China's official news agency Xinhua wrote on Sunday that the 'central government will not sit idly by and let this situation continue. We firmly believe that Hong Kong will be able to overcome the difficulties and challenges ahead. '
Hong Kong has been allowed to retain extensive freedoms, such as an independent judiciary but many residents see the extradition bill as the latest step in a relentless march toward mainland control.
Months of demonstrations are taking a growing toll on the city's economy, as local shoppers and tourists avoid parts of one of the world's most famous shopping destinations.
Matthew Wang, a 22-year-old marketing executive for a multinational corporation, said that the government was 'encouraging people to become more radical to affect decision making because they are not addressing any of the demands.'
A second march today will try to end in a park near the Liaison Office, the department that represents China's central government in Hong Kong.
Two weeks ago, the office was pelted with eggs and paint in a move that infuriated Beijing and sparked the rapidly escalating warnings from the mainland.
The last fortnight has seen a surge in violence on both sides with police repeatedly firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse increasingly hostile projectile-throwing crowds.
A group of government supporters also attacked demonstrators, putting 45 people in hospital, with many accusing the police of being too slow to respond.
In Tsim Sha Tsui, masked demonstrators smashed the windows of cars in a police parking lot and used a large slingshot to launch bricks at the building.
Others put up barricades on busy shopping thoroughfares and temporarily blockaded a cross-harbour tunnel.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
