Hong Kong protesters defy Xi with pro-democracy rallies

Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters defied a warning by China's President Xi Jinping and took to the streets again Friday, as the political turmoil seeped out to London, where a territorial minister was confronted by masked demonstrators.

Protests have swept Hong Kong since June as many in the city of 7.5 million people have vented fury at eroding freedoms under Chinese rule.

Violence has escalated, and tensions have spread overseas, sparking friction between China and Britain, which governed Hong Kong until 1997.

Hong Kong Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng fell in London Thursday after being surrounded by pro-democracy protesters, in the most physical confrontation involving a minister since the unrest began.

Cheng walked away without signs of injury, but Beijing slammed the incident as an "appalling attack" and accused Britain of fuelling the protest movement. Police in London said they were investigating.

Former colonial power Britain has urged Beijing and Hong Kong to seek a political solution to the crisis and has condemned escalating violence on both sides.

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said if Britain "continues to add fuel to the fire... then it will bring calamity on itself."
"The clashes are getting close to campuses," University of Amsterdam spokeswoman Annelies van Dijk told AFP. "Students no longer feel safe there and their families are worried."