PROTESTERS struck Hong Kong’s transport network for a second day running today as Western powers voiced concern about spiralling violence after police shot a young demonstrator and another man was set on fire.

Small bands of masked rally-goers blocked roads, threw objects onto railway tracks and held up subway trains, sparking cat-and-mouse clashes with riot police and renewed chaos during the morning commute.

Varsities are also a flashpoint, with police firing tear gas at protesters who blocked roads leading to City University of Hong Kong.

Masked activists outside Hong Kong University blocked a main road by dropping objects from a footbridge.

Overnight, students there clashed with police after officers made an arrest outside one of the university’s residences.

At Polytechnic University, clashes broke out when cops tried to arrest a female student.

Owan Li, the student representative in the institution’s governing body, said he was beaten by police as he tried to mediate.

“The officers were rather arrogant and unbridled,” he told AFP, sending pictures of bruises on his hand and leg.

“They said I was being aggressive and obstructing their work. Then, six or seven of them dragged me out and gave me a round of beating and kicking.”

Protester shot, man set alight

Hong Kong has endured 24 straight weeks of increasingly violent rallies aimed at securing greater democratic freedoms from China, which has ruled the city under a “one country, two systems” framework since its handover from the British in 1997.

The protesters are desperate to stop what they see as Beijing’s tightening control over Hong Kong and reneging on its handover commitment to allow greater liberties for the city than those on the mainland.

Yesterday, the financial hub was convulsed by some of the worst violence yet as crowds reacted to the shooting of a 21-year-old protester by rampaging through train stations, barricading streets and vandalising shops throughout the day and night.

Footage of the shooting – broadcast live on Facebook by a bystander – showed a cop drawing a pistol as he tried to detain a masked individual at a junction blocked by protesters.

Another unarmed masked demonstrator approached the officer and was shot, quickly falling to the ground.

The video has gone viral, inflaming already sky-high anger at police.

Protests raged for hours in multiple neighbourhoods, including a lunchtime rally mostly comprising office workers in the city’s main commercial district that was broken up by tear gas.

Horrifying footage emerged of a man being doused with a flammable liquid and set ablaze by a masked assailant following an argument with pro-democracy protesters.

Both the man set alight and the shot protester remain in critical condition today, said hospital authorities.

‘Deeply disturbing’

The violence has prompted Western powers to urge Beijing, as well as Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, to find a compromise with demonstrators, who are seeking greater democratic freedoms and police accountability.

“We condemn violence on all sides, extend our sympathies to victims of violence regardless of their political inclinations, and call for all parties – police and protesters – to exercise restraint,” said US State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus in a statement.

Britain said the latest violent episodes are “deeply disturbing”.

“Political dialogue is the only way forward, and we want to see Hong Kong authorities agree on a path to resolve this situation,” said Downing Street in a statement.

However, there is little sign the Chinese government or Lam is willing to offer political concessions.

As clashes raged yesterday, the Hong Kong leader said protesters are indulging in “wishful thinking” if they believe violence would achieve political change.

This morning, she gave another press conference, criticising protesters and praising people who tried to make it to their jobs amid the unrest.

Lam has been either unable or unwilling to end the five-month political crisis as Beijing insists she takes a hard line.

In a leaked audio recording from September, she told business leaders that her room for manouevre is “very, very, very limited”, and that she “has to serve two masters” – a reference to China. – AFP, November 12, 2019.