Christmas in Hong Kong marked by demonstrations and tear gas

Anti-government protesters returned to the streets of Hong Kong over the Christmas holiday, clashing with riot police in malls and busy shopping districts across the semiautonomous Chinese territory.

The city's embattled leader, Carrie Lam, accused the demonstrators of ruining the holiday. Her critics say the government and police used unnecessarily heavy-handed tactics to disperse what began as peaceful gatherings, albeit without official permission.

Hundreds of black-clad protesters, many wearing reindeer antlers, occupied malls and other shopping areas on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as part of the months-long campaign for democratic and police reforms in the city.

Police accused the protesters of "rioting" and vandalism, and attempted to disperse them using pepper spray and batons while indoors, and firing tear gas and deploying water cannons on the streets.



Tear gas is seen on the streets of Hong Kong on Christmas Eve.

Protesters blocked roads and destroyed a bank branch. Police also said petrol bombs were thrown. More than 100 people were arrested, authorities said.

Unlike in mainland China, December 25 and December 26 ar public holidays in Hong Kong, where around 12% of the population are Christian.

"Many members of the public and tourists coming to Hong Kong were naturally disappointed that their Christmas Eve celebrations have been ruined by a group of reckless and selfish rioters," Lam said in a Facebook post on Christmas Day.



Debris burns on a street during the Christmas holiday in Hong Kong.

One protester was hospitalized after falling several feet in a mall on Christmas Eve. Authorities said he "pushed their officer to the ground and suddenly jumped across a glass fence in an attempt to escape, and fell."

The man was conscious and sent to the hospital, and has since been arrested for assaulting a police officertality" on Christmas Eve. The government responded to the allegations in a statement, saying that police only deployed "minimum force. "

Scenes like these and accusations of wrongdoing on both sides have become increasingly common as the political unrest in the city has dragged on.



Residents dressed for Christmas festivities react to tear gas as police confront protesters on Christmas Eve in Hong Kong.

The movement began in June, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets to oppose a bill that would have allowed Hong Kong to extradite suspected criminals to mainland China.

Though the bill was inspired by the city's inability to extradite the suspect of a grisly murder to Taiwan, many Hong Kongers feared it would be used by Beijing to pursue political dissidents in the city, which allows for greater freedom of speech and the press than on the mainland.

China's legal system has a notoriously high conviction rate and is widely considered to be beholden to the ruling Communist Party.