HONG KONG: A tense calm descended on Hong Kong early on Tuesday, hours after police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who had stormed the legislature. That had created chaotic scenes triggered by the protest against an extradition bill in a direct challenge to Beijing. Debris including umbrellas, hard hats and water bottles were left over in panicky by protesters when the mayhem when protesters stormed and ransacked the legislature of the Chinese-ruled city. Protesters smashed computers and spray-painted “anti-extradition” and slurs against the police and government on chamber walls.

Police cleared roads near the heart of the financial center in Hong Kong for business to return to normal after the extraordinary violence on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s 1997 return to Chinese rule. Hong Kong returned to China under a “one country, two systems” formula that allows freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, including freedom to protest and an independent judiciary. However, many fear Beijing’s tightening grip over the city.

Millions of people have taken to the streets in the past few weeks to protest against the now-suspended extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China to face trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party. Lawyers and rights groups say China’s justice system is marked by torture, forced confessions and arbitrary detention.

Hong Kong’s self-styled Iron Lady, Carrie Lam, has created a fresh crisis for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is already grappling with a trade war with Washington, a faltering economy and tensions in the South China Sea. A Chinese state newspaper in China called for “zero tolerance” after the violence in Hong Kong overnight. “Out of blind arrogance and rage, protesters showed a complete disregard for law and order,” the Global Times, published by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily, said in an editorial on Tuesday. (Agencies)