The ongoing anti-government protest in Hong Kong, for the twelfth consecutive weekend, has escalated into violent clashes between demonstrators and police, with the dropping of two Molotov cocktails at officers in Telford Plaza and the use of tear gas against the crowd outside the Ngau Tau Kok police station. The news agency Nova reports. The parade was authorized in the Kwun Tong district, from Tsun Yip Street to the Zero Carbon Building; protesters have erected barricades in the area. Thousands of people joined the demonstration, while the attempt to block the connection with the airport failed this morning due to lack of participation. Tensions also between the residents and the staff of the metropolitan railway (Mtr), which interrupted the transport service. In addition to calling for the complete withdrawal of the extradition bill, the protest movement also challenges the plan to install "smart street lamps". According to the administration, the devices would be used to detect traffic conditions, weather conditions and other data, but critics fear privacy violations.
Yesterday evening thousands of protesters took part in a human chain inspired by the 1989 Baltic Chain, which marked the thirtieth anniversary: the August 23 of thirty years ago about two million people joined their hands for 600 kilometers between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to protest against the Soviet Union, to which the three countries still belonged. Many of the Hong Kong protesters wore health masks to hide their identities; many took the city flag with them, flashed their mobile phones and sang "Hong Kong free". The former British colony has been in turmoil for almost three months. The protests were triggered by an extradition bill. In addition to the formal withdrawal of the regulatory project, the protesters demand an independent investigation into alleged incidents of law enforcement brutality, the release of activists arrested in recent weeks and pro-democracy political reforms.