HONG KONG, November 19. /TASS/. Fierce clashes erupted near government buildings in Hong Kong on Wednesday, a day after police removed barricades from the city center.
Dozens of students wearing surgical masks attempted to break glass doors of the city’s legislature and storm the building. Police used batons and tear gas against them, local TV reported.
Several injuries have been reported, and a number of arrests have been made.
The incident occurred after police dismantled barricades near the government complex in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Mass sit-ins continue blocking the traffic in key streets of the financial hub.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, has been hit by protests for nearly two months, with demonstrators calling to revise the procedure approved by the parliament on holding elections of chief executive in 2017.
China insists that candidates should be first approved by a special committee, while protesters believe this is an undemocratic procedure and urge Beijing to lift the restrictions.
The massive demonstrations reached their peak in the first week of October, when tens of thousands of local residents took to the streets. Authorities have accused external forces of attempting to destabilize the situation in Hong Kong.