Hong Kong protesters and police face off in familiar cycle

On one end of a Hong Kong street, protesters dressed in black ducked behind umbrellas and makeshift barricades, occasionally throwing bricks or slinging rocks.

On the other end, police decked out in riot gear shouted warnings and fired tear gas.

As the late hours of Saturday stretched into the early hours of Sunday, neither side budged.

Some residents of neighbourhoods embroiled in the scuffles banded together with protesters in an effort to push riot police out and surrounded a police station.

Standoffs between demonstrators and authorities have become a weekly occurrence in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

What began as demonstrations against a now-suspended extradition bill has ballooned into a broader call for greater democratic freedoms and government accountability.

The now-familiar cycle of rallies, police interventions and clashes between the two sides have splintered the city.

While tens of thousands marched Saturday through Mong Kok, a bustling shopping area, to call for an inquiry into alleged police brutality, another several thousand in a different part of the city gathered to show support for law enforcement.

At one rally, attendees chanted: "Support the Hong Kong police to strictly enforce the law!"
At another, protesters yelled: "Police know the law and break the law!"
Shortly afterward, a 38-year-old protester named Paladin Cheng planted himself beside the poles with his own set of flags, which read "Hong Kong Independence."
"Those who don't support Hong Kong independence will have no choice but to become Chinese."
"The atmosphere here is becoming more and more uncomfortable."
"Sooner or later, they will rejoin China, and our government will deal with them."