Attack on Chinse news agency in Hong Kong; 200 detained

In Hong Kong, over 200 demonstrators were detained in connection with an attack on China’s state-owned Xinhua News Agency office by pro-democracy protesters yesterday.

It was the first strike against the official Chinese news agency in a show of anger against Beijing. It happened a day after the ruling Communist Party vowed to tighten the grip on the violence in the city.

In a brief statement, Xinhua strongly condemned what it called the barbaric acts of mobs that vandalized and set fire to the lobby of its Asia-Pacific office building in the city. Hong Kong Journalists’ Association has called for an end to violence against the media.