HONG KONG -- During Hong Kong's Lunar New Year celebration, clashes between protesters and police at a street market left dozens injured and more than 60 arrested.
The violence is the worst in Hong Kong since pro-democracy protests rocked the city in 2014.
Activists angered over authorities' attempts to crack down on the food hawkers in a crowded Kowloon neighborhood held running battles with police into the early hours of Tuesday.
Protesters pelted officers with paving stones, glass bottles and other pieces of debris. Some threw garbage cans, plastic safety barriers and wood from shipping pallets. They also set fires on the street.
The unrest started when authorities tried to prevent unlicensed street-food sellers from operating Monday night in Mong Kok, a working-class district. The hawkers have become a tradition during the Lunar New Year holiday but this year authorities tried to remove them.
The hawkers were backed by activists who objected to the crackdown over concerns that Hong Kong's culture is disappearing as Beijing tightens its hold on the semiautonomous city.
The scuffles underscore how tensions remain unresolved more than a year after the end of pro-democracy protests that gripped the city. Mong Kok, a popular and densely populated shopping and entertainment district, was one of the neighborhoods where activists occupied streets for about 11 weeks in late 2014, capturing world headlines with their demands for greater electoral freedom.
Hong Kong's leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, told reporters a mob had attacked police officers and journalists, and said the perpetrators would be prosecuted. More than 80 officers and four reporters were hurt, he said.
Police cars and public property were damaged, fires were started and bricks and other objects were thrown at police officers, including those already injured and lying on the ground, Leung said.
"I believe the public can see for themselves from TV news reports the seriousness of the situation. The [Hong Kong] government strongly condemns such violent acts. The police will apprehend the mobs and bring them to justice," Leung said.
A Section on 02/10/2016