HONG KONG (AP) — The Latest on protests in Hong Kong (all times local):
6:30 p.m.
Thousands of people have marched in Taiwan in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests.
Spurred by anti-China cries from loudspeakers, demonstrators took to the streets of Taipei, the capital, on Sunday despite heavy rain. Most wore black and a few donned gas masks, both symbols of the Hong Kong protests.
Protester Lin Shu-lian, a 50-year-old office worker, said she is saddened that people in Hong Kong have lost their freedom. She added: "I hope Taiwanese can send a signal that we won't become the next Hong Kong."
Hong Kong is a former British colony that was returned to China in 1997. The semiautonomous city has more freedoms than mainland China, but protesters feel those freedoms are being eroded.
Taiwan is a self-governing island that split from the mainland in 1949. Government surveys indicate that most Taiwanese oppose unification with China.
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5:20 p.m.
Members of an elite police squad have charged out from behind barricades surrounding the Hong Kong government office complex, after protesters continued to throw objects and attempted to scale the barriers despite police use of a water cannon earlier.
The sudden appearance of the officers, commonly known as raptors, took many protesters by surprise Sunday and a number who failed to flee in time were subdued and detained in a scene of chaos.
Hundreds of protesters had regrouped again after retreating earlier when a water cannon truck sprayed blue water to disperse the crowd. They sprayed graffiti and hurled objects over the barricades.
The police squad, backed by scores of riot officers, suddenly streamed out and pursued protesters down roads to nearby areas. They continued to fire multiple rounds of tear gas in the continuing cat-and-mouse battle.
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4:40 p.m.
Riot police in Hong Kong have fired a water cannon and more rounds of tear gas to block protesters from advancing toward the government office complex in the city's downtown area.
A march by thousands of people who defied a police ban appeared to have fizzled Sunday after riot police used tear gas to disperse the crowd at several spots as they headed toward government headquarters.
A water cannon truck positioned behind barricades surrounding government buildings sprayed blue liquid used to identify protesters, forcing demonstrators to retreat. The scene was similar to clashes on Saturday, when protesters targeted the government complex.
At another street nearby, dozens of black-clad protesters wearing gas masks used their umbrellas to form a shield as they stayed a few hundred meters away from a police cordon. Some picked up tear gas canisters shot at them and threw them back toward the police officers.