A Hong Kong police officer was hit by an arrow as authorities used tear gas and water cannons to try to drive back protesters occupying a university campus as well as the surrounding streets.
Violent clashes between demonstrators and police began yesterday and continued into today as arrows and petrol bombs were launched at riot cops from huge catapults.
A group of demonstrators set fire to barricades and blocked the entrance to the Cross Harbour Tunnel as the pro-democracy protests continued.
During a stand-off with protesters, police said an arrow struck a press officer, who was taken to a hospital. Photos on the department's Facebook page show the arrow sticking out of the back of the officer's lower leg.
Water cannon trucks drove over bricks and nails left by protesters and sprayed them at close range in a bid to drive them away on the streets outside Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
The push came in an hours-long stand-off that followed intense clashes the previous night.
A large group of people arrived in the morning to try to clean up the road, but were warned away by protesters.
Riot police lined up a few hundred metres away and shot tear gas at the protesters, who sheltered behind a wall of umbrellas across an entire street and threw petrol bombs into nearby bushes and trees, setting them on fire.
The water cannons arrived in the early afternoon, one using blue-dyed water to drench the protesters.
Today protesters shut down a main street in Hong Kong's Mongkok district, as police fired tear gas to try to disperse them.
Bricks were strewn along part of Nathan Road, a wide thoroughfare lined with shops on the city's Kowloon peninsula.
The Sunday afternoon traffic disruption appeared to be a diversionary tactic as other protesters faced down police tear gas and water cannons in a daylong standoff outside Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Protesters have taken over the streets in Mongkok every night recently, but usually only after nightfall.
The daytime face-off came after a battle at night in which the two sides exchanged tear gas and petrol bombs that left fires blazing in the street.
Many protesters retreated inside the Polytechnic campus, where they have barricaded entrances and set up narrow access control points.
Protesters largely retreated from occupations of several major campuses last week, except for a contingent at Hong Kong Polytechnic.
That group is also blocking access to the nearby Cross-Harbour Tunnel, one of the three main road tunnels that link Hong Kong Island with the rest of the city.
Opposition politicians criticised the Chinese military late on Saturday for joining a clean-up to remove debris from streets near Hong Kong Baptist University.
Dozens of Chinese troops, dressed in shorts and T-shirts, ran out in loose formation and picked up paving stones, rocks and other obstacles that had cluttered the street.
Yesterday police fired tear gas during clashes outside Hong Kong's Polytechnic University, just hours after Chinese soldiers made a rare appearance to help clean up the city's streets.
China's People's Liberation Army soldiers in shorts and t-shirts made a surprising appearance on the streets of Hong Kong today, helping residents clean up debris and barricades after anti-government protests blocked roads.
The presence of PLA troops on the streets, even to help clean up, could stoke further controversy over the Chinese-ruled territory's autonomous status.
A city spokesman said the Hong Kong government did not request assistance from the PLA but the military initiated the operation as a 'voluntary community activity'.
The military is allowed to help maintain public order, but only at the request of the Hong Kong government. The government said that it had not requested the military's assistance, describing it as a voluntary community activity.
The Education Bureau announced that school classes would be suspended again on Monday because of safety concerns.
The city's anti-government protests have been raging for more than five months.
They were sparked by a government decision to submit legislation that would have allowed the extradition of criminal suspects to the mainland. Activists saw it as an erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy under the 'one country, two systems' formula implemented in 1997, when the UK returned the territory to China.
The bill has been withdrawn, but the protests have expanded into a wider resistance movement against what is perceived as the growing control of Hong Kong by China, along with calls for full democracy for the territory.
Up to 12,000 soldiers are now believed to be based across Hong Kong - more than double the usual garrison number, foreign envoys and security analysts estimate.
Hong Kong has been rocked by more than five months of demonstrations by protesters angry at perceived Communist Party meddling in the former British colony, which was guaranteed its freedoms when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Beijing denies interfering and has blamed the unrest on foreign influences.
In October, Chinese soldiers issued a warning to Hong Kong protesters who shone lasers at their barracks in the city, in the first direct interaction between mainland military forces and protesters.
Clashes between protesters and police have become increasingly violent. China has said any attempt at independence for Hong Kong will be crushed, but troops have remained inside their base.
Chinese state media repeatedly broadcast comments made on Thursday by President Xi Jinping, in which he denounced the unrest and said 'stopping violence and controlling chaos while restoring order is currently Hong Kong's most urgent task'.
Saturday's clean-up followed some of the worst violence seen this year, after a police operation against protesters at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Tuesday.
The authorities have since largely stayed away from at least five university campuses that had been barricaded by thousands of students and activists who stockpiled petrol bombs, catapults, bows and arrows and other weapons.
Many protesters appeared to have left the campuses by late Saturday but Hong Kong's Cross-Harbour Tunnel was still blocked by protesters occupying Polytechnic University, where violence flared again on Saturday night.
Chan, a 20-year-old Polytechnic student said: 'We don't want to attack the police, we just want to safeguard our campus.
'The reason why we want safeguard our campus is we want citizens to join the mass strike and protect Hong Kong.'
Earlier, hundreds of pro-China demonstrators gathered by the city's legislature and police headquarters, waving Chinese and Hong Kong flags. Some held up posters reading 'Police we stand with you', while others chanted 'Support the police'.
Pro-China protests have so far attracted much smaller numbers than those angry at Beijing.
By late afternoon, the PLA soldiers had left the streets outside Baptist University beside their barracks in Kowloon Tong.
Chinese troops have appeared on streets only once since the 1997 handover to help clear up after a typhoon in 2018. It was not clear how many were involved on Saturday.
The PLA garrison in Hong Kong said that when some residents began cleaning, some troops 'helped clear the road in front of the garrison gate'.
Demosista, a pro-democracy organisation, said Saturday's clean-up operation could set a 'grave precedent' if the city's government invites the military to deal with internal problems.
In August, Beijing moved thousands of troops across the border into Hong Kong in what state news agency Xinhua described as a routine rotation. Foreign envoys and security analysts estimate up to 12,000 troops are now based across Hong Kong - more than double the usual garrison number.
Standing beside a black flag with the slogan 'Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times,' James Wong, 23, was among protesters manning a bridge at Baptist University.
'We didn't want to confront the people and the PLA troops directly,' he said.
'We are not directly against the PLA, but rather the government. But the PLA should not leave their base because this is Hong Kong territory.'
Hundreds of residents moved in to help clear barricaded roads near several universities.
Earlier clashes on Saturday saw at least one petrol bomb thrown before anti-government protesters at the campuses retreated. No soldiers appeared to have been involved in the confrontations. 'We just want our lives to continue,' said one resident who was helping clear streets near Hong Kong University. 'There are many elderly who need to go the hospital and children who need to go to school. I am very sad to see what is happening in my community.'
Saturday's rally to denounce the anti-government violence drew a mix of young and elderly.
'A lot of people keep silent, afraid of the rioters. It's time for all the people who are silent to step up and say that's enough,' said a 49-year-old housewife surnamed Kong.
A 70-year-old street cleaner died on Thursday after being hit on the head a brick police said had been thrown by rioters. On Monday, police blamed a rioter for dousing a man in petrol and setting him on fire. The victim is in critical condition.
On the same day, police shot a protester in the abdomen. He was in a stable condition.
Pro-police protesters laid white flowers outside the government office to pay their respects to the cleaner. Others applauded and cheered the police, some bowing and giving thumbs up as they walked past riot police on duty.
Train services suspended earlier in the week were gradually resuming, metro operator MTR Corp said.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
