What started as a protest by pro-democracy students escalated into a paralyzing demonstration after riot police tried to clear the streets using tear gas, batons and pepper spray over the weekend. (Photo: Vincent Yu/AP)

CNN’s Ivan Watson was reporting live from the standoff between police and chanting protesters – some pleading on their knees --when tear gas was fired, enveloping the crowd. "Both sides were appealing for calm, and then the tear gas just exploded in the midst of everybody," he said.

Demonstrations began in response to China's decision to allow only Beijing-vetted candidates to stand in the city's 2017 election for the top civil position of chief executive. Protesters say Beijing has gone back on its pledge to allow universal suffrage in Hong Kong, which was promised "a high degree of autonomy" when it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997. Watson said the use of tear gas was unexpected: "People here have never been hit by tear gas before, and it comes as quite a shock to them -- even the use of pepper spray. ... This is a big shock for a city that is famed for its law and order." (Photo: Wally Santana/AP)

Demonstrators' use of umbrellas to protect themselves from choking tear gas and stinging pepper spray has caused the demonstration to be dubbed the "umbrella revolution." Hong Kong authorities say that more than 40 people have been injured. (Photos: Vincent Yu/AP and Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images)

The crackdown by authorities drew defiance and led to an increased number of people taking to the streets. The protests have been called illegal by the Hong Kong and central Chinese governments, and some commentators have expressed fear that Chinese troops could be used to clear the streets, as happened in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.

CNN's Ivan Watson and Andrew Stevens capture scenes from the demonstrations.

Police officers rest amid the protests. (Photo: Alex Ogle/AFP/Getty Images)

Hong Kong's de facto constitution, the Basic Law, states that Hong Kong will coexist with China as "one country, two systems" for 50 years after the handover of power in 1997. Due to expire in 2047, it states that the city "shall safeguard the rights and freedoms of the residents."

由蘇珊娜Cullinane和肖恩O'Key，美國有線電視新聞網
更新時間2014年9月29日
成千上萬的示威者數万人佔據香港金融區中他們所看到的北京的半自治地區的運作方式匍匐影響的抗議。CNN的記者已經在地面上匯報示威者和警察之間的緊張關係升高。全文»

什麼開始作為一個抗議民運學生升級為癱瘓的示威後，防暴警察試圖清除使用了催淚瓦斯，警棍和胡椒噴霧在上週末的街頭。（攝影：文森特宇/美聯社）

CNN的伊万·沃森報告從現場警察和示威者高呼之間的對峙 - 他們的膝蓋上 - 當催淚彈一些懇求被解僱，包圍的人群。“雙方都呼籲保持冷靜，然後將催淚瓦斯爆炸剛剛在眾人之中，”他說。

遊行開始針對中國的決定，只允許北京，核實考生站在城市的2017選舉行政長官的前公民的地位。抗議者說，北京已經違背了承諾，允許在香港，這是承諾，當它被交還給中國是英國在1997年沃森說，使用催淚彈是出乎意料“的高度自治”普選“這裡的人從來沒有遭受催淚瓦斯之前，和它作為相當大的震動給他們 - 甚至使用胡椒噴霧...這是一個很大的衝擊的一個城市，是著名的法律和秩序“。（圖片：沃利桑塔納/美聯社）

示威者用雨傘保護自己免受嗆催淚瓦斯和刺胡椒噴霧造成示範被戲稱為“傘革命”。香港當局說，40餘人受傷。（攝影：文森特宇/ AP和林奕飛/ Getty圖像）

被當局鎮壓吸引了蔑視和導致人們走上街頭的人數有所增加。抗議活動被稱為非法由香港及中國中部政府和一些評論家表示，他們怕中國軍隊可以用來清除街道，發生在北京天安門廣場在1989年。

CNN的伊万·沃森和安德魯·史蒂文斯捕獲的示威場面。

警員休息在一片抗議。（圖片：亞歷克斯·奧格爾/法新社/蓋蒂圖片社）
香港事實上的憲法，基本法規定，香港將與中國共存“一個國家，兩種制度”的權力在1997年由於香港回歸後50年的2047到期，它指出了城市“應保障居民的權利和自由。“