HONG KONG — Beijing has condemned the protests in Hong Kong as violent, calling it an "undisguised challenge" to its rule.<br /><br />The BBC reports that during the anniversary of the Hong Kong handover on Monday, protesters blocked streets around the venue where Chief Executive Carrie Lam was attending the annual flag-raising ceremony.<br /><br />Demonstrators wearing hard hats and masks broke off from the main protest around midday, and made their way to the Legislative Council.<br /><br />They surrounded the building, eventually smashing through the glass facade.<br /><br />Inside the central chamber, protesters defaced the Hong Kong emblem and raised the old British colonial flag. They also spray-painted messages across the walls and shattered furniture.<br /><br />At midnight, police charged toward the building after several warnings earlier in the evening to clear it, firing tear gas at the rest of the crowd outside as they advanced.<br /><br />The streets were cleared within an hour, with only media and police remaining.<br /><br />The violent display came after a peaceful weeks-long demonstration, in which hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers flocked to the streets to protest a controversial China extradition law.<br /><br />Like the Chinese government, Lam likewise condemned the "extreme use of violence," adding that Hong Kong authorities will "pursue any illegal acts" carried out by demonstrators.
