The protests in Hong kong now seem to go in a vicious circle, as protesters are determined to topple the Chief Executive Cary Lam, while China is heavily supporting her.
The protests, sometimes violent, which started in mid June in response to a proposed bill to hand over criminals to Chinese courts, are spreading nation wide and regularly intensifying at week ends. They call for greater democracy in Hong Kong.
This morning, Metro stations in Hong Kong resumed regular service and streets were being cleaned of debris as the city recovered from another night of violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police, with more protests planned this week.
Police fired volleys of tear gas at protesters across the territory on Sunday and staged baton charges in flashpoints in downtown Hong Kong and in working class districts.
In return, protesters threw two petrol bombs, which police said injured an officer, and used flash-mob strategy, withdrawing when pressed to reappear elsewhere, to combat police, as Reuters put it.
At one stage police stormed some underground train stations, firing tear gas and arresting protesters.
The protests blocked multiple roads in key commercial and shopping districts and shuttered public facilities across the Asian financial hub.
Protesters are expected to gather at the city's international airport for a fourth day in a row on Monday and plan to rally outside police headquarters on Monday night.
Hong Kong's most serious crisis in decades has become one of the biggest challenges to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he took power in 2012.
Demonstrators look to the erosion of the "one country, two systems" arrangements, injecting some autonomy for Hong Kong when China took it back in 1997. They are calling on the government to listen to public demands particularly an independent investigation into the handling of the protests.
In return, Beijing says criminals and agitators are stirring violence, encouraged by "interfering" foreign powers including Britain.
Police have arrested more than 600 people since the protests started more than two months ago.
Hours later, Hong Kong International Airport, one of the world's busiest airports canceled all flights after thousands of pro-democracy protesters crowded into the main terminal Monday afternoon.
The airport authorities said in a statement that the demonstration "seriously disrupted" airport operations.
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