Hong Kong has fallen into recession, hit by five months of anti-government protests that erupted in flames at the weekend, and is unlikely to achieve any growth this year, the city's Financial Secretary said.following a now-familiar pattern, with police responding with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets.
The rallying cry of Sunday's protests was to fight perceived police brutality and defend Muslims and journalists. It was not immediately clear if she was wearing a gas mask to protect against tear gas and pepper spray. Ordinary face masks were banned this month under a resurrected colonial-era emergency law.
The police, who deny using excessive force in life-threatening situations, held a news conference on Monday which ended in chaos when some journalists started yelling at police, shining bright lights in their eyes "just like you do to us".Credit:Protesters have routinely torched store fronts and businesses including banks, particularly those owned by mainland Chinese companies and vandalised the city's MTR Corp metro which has shut down services to stop protesters gathering.
Tourists numbers have plummeted, with visitor numbers down nearly 50 percent in October, a decline Chan called an "emergency".