Tens of thousands of protesters marched through central Hong Kong on Sunday wearing face masks in defiance of colonial-era emergency powers which threaten them with a year in prison for hiding their faces.

Axar.az reports citing Reuters.

Police fired tear gas in several places in the Asian financial hub but there was no obvious signs of violence, with protesters ignoring the gas, dousing the canisters with water or tossing them back at police.

Police said protesters were participating in unlawful assemblies, blocking major roads, and warned they would soon begin “dispersal operations on Hong Kong island”, ordering protesters to leave immediately.