Demonstrators burn stuff
© Reuters/Tyrone SiuDemonstrators burn stuff during a protest in Hong Kong, China on August 4, 2019.
Weeks-long protests in Hong Kong over a controversial extradition bill escalated on Sunday. Protesters tried to block major tunnels as well as taking aim at public transport networks and crucial industries.

The protests continue in Hong Kong for the ninth weekend in a row. Sunday night has seen violent altercations between law enforcement and demonstrators who tried to block traffic and besiege police stations throughout the city. Over 20 people were arrested for various offenses, including assault and participation in unlawful assemblies.


Earlier Sunday was no less turbulent, as an authorized march of the anti-extradition bill protesters yet again turned into scuffles with the police. As the peaceful procession ended some of the protesters blocked roads in the town of Tseung Kwan O in the New Territories, erected barricades and pelted a local police station with stones and other objects.
slingshot
© Reuters/Tyrone SiuAnti-extradition bill protesters use a large slingshot to hurl stones in front of a police station in Tseung Kwan O residential district.
Police, in turn, responded with tear gas. Law enforcement had to deal with several simultaneous unauthorized gatherings throughout the region, deploying the gas in at least one more location during a separate rally in the island's Western district.
Police tear gas
© Reuters/Kim Kyung-HoonPolice officers fire tear gas towards protesters during an anti-extradition bill protest in Causeway Bay.
The protesters spray painted traffic lights in an attempt to render them inoperable to disrupt the city's traffic, as well as blocked major roads, including the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, that links Hong Kong island and Kowloon peninsula.
Barricades tunnel
© AFP/Philip FongBarricades set up by protesters at the Cross-Harbour Tunnel in Hong Kong, August 4, 2019.
Several police vehicles were blocked by the crowds of protesters, who spray painted the cars and pelted them with various projectiles, footage from the scene shows.

While the controversial extradition bill has been suspended amid the unrest, the protesters now demand the legislation to be scrapped altogether, as well as call for more "democracy" in the autonomous region. The protests are likely to spill over into Monday when a general strike - 'advertised' as the 8/5 Strike - is set to take place.
Protester fires
© UnknownProtesters light fires in the Causeway Bay MTR station in Hong Kong August 4, 2019
The city is likely to face a major disruption of traffic, commuters and other services amid the strike, since it's likely to attract a vast number of participants. The strike is expected to heavily affect air traffic as well, and many flight departures are already shown as cancelled for Monday.

"This is a citywide strike. Judging from the 1 million turnout for the June 9 march, I reckon the number of people joining the strike might reach 500,000," Carol Ng Man-yee, chairwoman of pro-democracy Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU), said as quoted by the South China Morning Post newspaper.