Hong Kong crisis: riot police flood city as China protests build

Thousands of armed police have flooded the streets of Hong Kong in a show of force to prevent protests against a law criminalising ridicule of China’s national anthem.

At lunchtime rallies, police fired pepper bullets into crowds, and arrested at least 180 protesters.
Protests have also been fuelled by growing anger at Beijing’s increasing interference in the semi-autonomous city, with the National People’s Congress expected to rubber-stamp national security laws on Thursday.
Roads around the Legislative Council building (LegCo), where lawmakers have begun a second reading debate on the anthem law, had been blocked off since at least Tuesday, and pedestrian walkways were cordoned off to all except those with work passes. Shops near LegCo were closed.