This archive report was first published on 25 December 2019.
On a night typically filled with festive cheer, Hong Kong's streets were instead filled with the acrid smell of tear gas and pepper spray as riot police clashed with pro-democracy protesters on Christmas Eve, December 25, 2019.
Thousands of protesters gathered at malls and shopping districts, including the Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district, where they clashed with the police, who fired pepper spray and tear gas. The protests, which began in June over a since-withdrawn proposal that would allow extraditions to mainland China, have entered a period of relative calm but occasional flare-ups continue.
Two dozen people were injured, including one protester who fell over a railing and at least one floor in a shopping mall while trying to evade arrest, and another who fell from the roof of a restaurant that was being raided by the police. The police said the man at the mall was being treated for injuries at a hospital and had been arrested for assaulting an officer.
Alan Ming, a 61-year-old retired factory owner, expressed his support for the protesters, saying, 'I have especially come out to stand with our young protesters. I have never felt more upset on a Christmas Eve. I feel heavy-hearted.'
