HONG KONG CITY 28 Jul (ANA) - Thousands of demonstrators streamed into central Hong Kong on Sunday in the third day of mass protests as public anger at the government reaches new heights.

Groups of protesters defied police orders and fanned out from a rally in a public square in central Hong Kong to condemn police behaviour towards demonstrators, occupying roads and setting up barricades.

Some demonstrators moved west towards Beijing’s representative office in Hong Kong, which was defaced during rallies last weekend, with riot police facing off against protesters. Another group marched east, erecting barricades in a shopping district and surrounding a police station. Some shops in the area closed and bus routes were suspended.

Demonstrators clash with police during a protest against police violence. Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters 

The organisers’ original plan for Sunday’s protest involved a march towards a park near China’s representative office where police had fired teargas and rubber bullets at protesters last weekend, but officials had denied authorisation, granting permission permission to hold a rally in Chater Garden, a park east of the government’s legislative complex.

In the last few days, tens of thousands of demonstrators have rallied to condemn an attack on commuters by suspected triad gangs last week, which has led to accusations of government collusion, denied by Hong Kong officials.

On Saturday, a peaceful march in the town of Yuen Long turned chaotic as police fired teargas, rubber bullets and sponge grenades, and charged protesters in a railway station.

“We want to fight against police violence,” said Eunice Chan, 55, who has attended almost every weekend protest since the demonstrations started last month. Chan, who grew up in Hong Kong before it was returned to Chinese control in 1997, said Beijing’s growing influence on the city’s media, legal system and way of life was “obvious”.

“It seems to us that this is our last chance. If we don’t do this now, we won’t be able to later,” she said. “We are so afraid they will make Hong Kong like another Chinese city.”(ANA)

FA/ANA/28 July 2019-----