Hong Kong is gearing up for demonstrations over Christmas week with protesters planning events in districts across the city, including in prime shopping malls, the latest in more than six months of unrest.
This week's protests follow a weekend of rallies, including one Sunday, which ended in chaotic clashes between black-clad, masked demonstrators, who kicked and beat police officers, hurling bricks and glass at them. Police retaliated with bursts of pepper spray and one officer pulled out a gun toward a crowd but did not fire, according to witnesses and Cable Television.
Protests planned throughout the week include evening demonstrations in five malls on Christmas Eve. A countdown rally is also planned near the city's harbor front in the bustling Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district.