Massive protest against security laws in Hong Kong

Hong Kong police have fired volleys of tear gas at demonstrators as thousands of people protested against Beijing's controversial plan to directly impose national security laws on the semi-autonomous financial hub.

Images posted on social media on Sunday showed protesters gathering in the busy Causeway Bay and Wan Chai districts.

The demonstrators set up makeshift barricades and chanted slogans such as "Five demands, not one less" in reference to their demands from the government, including investigation of alleged police brutality against anti-government protesters last year.

Water cannon trucks and armoured police vehicles were seen rolling into Causeway Bay, while in Wan Chai police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds after protesters tried to block a road. Local media reported that more than 100 people were detained.

"This is the first large demonstration in Hong Kong since COVID-19 arrived here," Al Jazeera's Adrian Brown, reporting from a protest site, said. "The protesters are not just defying social-distancing rules, they're also defying an order by Hong Kong's police not to hold this unauthorised assembly - and, of course, they are once more defying Beijing."

The planned legislation is expected to ban treason, subversion and sedition, and comes after Hong Kong was shaken in 2019 by months of massive, often-violent protests sparked by opposition to a now-shelved bill to extradite criminal suspects for trial in mainland China.

Beijing's proposal on Thursday sent a chill through financial markets and drew a swift rebuke from foreign governments, international human rights groups and some business lobbies.

Dhaka/Mukul