Hong Kong civil servants on Friday night kicked off a weekend of anti-government
protests and unsanctioned rallies in defiance of warnings from
China and after a prominent independence campaigner was arrested.
The semi-autonomous southern Chinese city has seen two months of unrest triggered by opposition to a planned extradition law that quickly evolved into a wider movement for democratic reforms.
Authorities in Hong Kong and
Beijing this week signalled a hardening stance, including with the arrests of dozens of
protesters, and the Chinese military indicating it was ready to quell the "intolerable" unrest if asked.