Hong Kong marks handover to China with ceremony and protests

Police used riot shields and pepper spray to push back hundreds of helmeted protesters who tried to advance down closed streets toward the harborfront venue, where the Chinese and Hong Kong flags were raised together and two helicopters and a small flotilla passed by.

City leader Carrie Lam said a series of protests and marches that have attracted hundreds of thousands of students and other participants have taught her that she needs to listen better to the youth and people in general. Lam has come under withering criticism for trying to push through legislation that would have allowed suspects to be extradited to the mainland to face trial.

“This has made me fully realize that I, as a politician, have to remind myself all the time of the need to grasp public sentiments accurately,” she said in a five-minute speech to the gathering.