Hong Kong: Protests takes a violent turn on 16th consecutive weekend

Protesters here on Sunday night vandalised a subway station, set fires and trampled on Chinese flags as the pro-democracy demonstrations once again took a violent turn for the 16th consecutive weekend.

Demonstrators clashed with riot police outside a mall as officers fired brief volleys of tear gas and rubber-coated bullets in the northern town of Sha Tin. Authorities reduced rail and bus links to the city's airport while police stepped up security checks in a successful bid to stop a crowd from massing at the bustling transport hub, Al Jazeera reported.

The Hong Kong airport, the world's eighth busiest, has become a frequent target for demonstrators pushing for greater democratic rights and police accountability.

"Even if we are very tired, we can't give up on our rights," said a teacher who participated in the rally.

"If it [the movement] stretches to 100 days, 200 days or even 1,000 days and we still don't get what we want, we will continue to come out," the teacher added.

Millions of supporters of the pro-democracy movement have taken to Hong Kong's streets for the past three months in the biggest challenge to China's rule since the city's handover from Britain in 1997.

With very few having demands fulfilled, violent clashes across the semi-autonomous region have become more intense and frequent in recent weeks.

The protests were ignited by a now-aborted plan to allow extraditions to mainland China.

But after Beijing and the leaders of the administrative region took a hard line over the bill, the movement propelled into a much wider expression of rage at the city's local government and life under Chinese rule.