Hong Kong protests turn violent after face-mask ban

Anti-government marches in Hong Kong turned violent over the weekend after tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets following a ban on face masks.

Hong Kong police used water cannons, tear gas and truncheons against protesters who had braved the rain, while authorities began to exercise their new powers as they charged at least two individuals with illegally covering their faces.

Protesters had attacked businesses perceived as being pro-China, smashed facilities at metro stations and wrecked government offices in the Cheung Sha Wan area.

Meanwhile, a taxi driver was attacked by demonstrators after reportedly driving into a crowd.

The ban on masks was introduced by Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, who brought in the restrictions using colonial-era emergency powers in an attempt to clamp down on protests that have continually rocked the city for over six months.

A legal challenge to the ban from opposition legislators, who argued that such measures denied citizens the right of free expression and free assembly, was rejected by Hong Kong's High Court.

Speaking on Saturday, Lam said the ban was a response to the "extreme violence" shown by demonstrators and added that authorities could not allow rioters "to destroy our treasured Hong Kong".

However, the move has been criticised as a move towards authoritarianism by some, while the city's former governor, Chris Patten, added to mounting condemnation as he told Sky News that the hard line route taken by Lam's government was likely to result in people being killed.

The protests were first sparked back in March, when a controversial extradition law led to fears that democratic rights in Hong Kong were being whittled away as China brings the former British colony under closer control.