China Says Hong Kong Protests Are ‘Absolutely Intolerable'

Beijing calls for use of ‘all necessary measures to safeguard Central govt. agencies’

China reacted furiously on Monday to anti-government protesters vandalising the walls of its representative’s office in Hong Kong and defacing the national emblem, branding their actions “absolutely intolerable”.

Thousands of masked pro-democracy demonstrators briefly occupied the road outside the office in the semi-autonomous city on Sunday and targeted the building with eggs, projectiles, laser lights and graffiti in a stark rebuke to Beijing’s rule.

Hong Kong has been shaken by massive, sometimes violent, protests initially organised to oppose a now-suspended bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. They have now morphed into a wider movement for democratic reforms.