As it happened: Hong Kong protests
China celebrations mark 70 years of Communist rule; How the Communist Party runs China; The deep cuts behind China's extraordinary rise
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China celebrations mark 70 years of Communist rule; How the Communist Party runs China; The deep cuts behind China's extraordinary rise
Live Reporting
Anna Jones, Andreas Illmer, Flora Drury, Joshua Cheetham and David Walker
All times stated are UK
BreakingPolice confirm protester shot
A Hong Kong police source has confirmed to the BBC that a protester was shot in the chest by live bullet in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong.
Police are expected to make the official announcement at a press conference shortly.
This is the first time a bullet has hit a protester since demonstrations began in June.
Why China's anniversary worries some in Taiwan
Cindy Sui
BBC Taiwan reporter
Taiwan is considered by China to be the last piece of territory to reunify with the mainland, to end the shame of the past. Some Taiwanese people fear the People's Republic of China (PRC), under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, has a deadline of reunifying with Taiwan - on the 100th anniversary of the PRC in 2049.
No such deadline has been publicly announced, but fears remain, especially when Xi talks about the China Dream of rejuvenating the country.
Most Taiwanese, however, don’t think the PRC will take back Taiwan by force. They believe Beijing wants to avoid a war and that it prefers peaceful unification, as it has often stated.
But even these moderates are worried that Taiwan will nonetheless become more vulnerable to Beijing’s influences as China’s economic, military and geopolitical powers continue to rise.
Seeing Beijing’s lack of adherence to the One Country, Two Systems principle in Hong Kong, Taiwanese people are more aware of the importance of safeguarding Taiwan’s hard won sovereignty, democracy and freedoms.
Police clearing out protesters
Tessa Wong
BBC News, Hong Kong
Police have just made a major clearance of Hong Kong's Hennessy Road after protesters tried fighting back with petrol bombs and bricks.
Several were tackled to the ground and some were seen bleeding.
Protesters are now being put into police vans.
Petrol bombs and beans as protesters battle police
Police and protesters appear to be involved in running battles on the streets of Hong Kong.
According to our reporter, the police continue to fire tear gas, as protesters throw petrol bombs.
But some are being thrown "inexpertly" - meaning at least one petrol bomb has almost struck a reporter.
However, other protesters are making do with what they can find in order to slow the police down.
According to our reporter, these are beans - meant to make the road slippery.
HK bookseller's fears for the future
Lam Wing-kee was arrested in Hong Kong by China in 2015, along with four other people who sold books critical of the Chinese leadership. Their prosecution increased fears that Beijing was encroaching on Hong Kong's freedoms, fears that have fuelled the past few month of protests.
Mr Lam served eight months in prison in China after being convicted of an old traffic offence before being allowed to return to Hong Kong. He fled to Taiwan in April, fearing he would be rearrested under the controversial extradition bill which sparked this latest unrest.
He spoke the BBC's Cindy Sui in Taipei recently, and explained his reasons for staying away from Hong Kong despite the bill being scrapped, and his views about the prospects of China allowing democracy in its territories.
Video content
Hong Kong protests escalate
More images are emerging from Hong Kong, showing protesters clashing with police. Several arrests have been made and local media report that one protester was shot.
Completely different TV coverage in mainland China and Hong Kong
Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst
China and Hong Kong have completely different media environments.
In Hong Kong, there is complete freedom of press, and so users are watching livestreams of demonstrations happening all over the city, and clashes between police and protesters (L).
But what is being aired out of mainland China is completely different (R). China has one of the most tightly controlled media environments in the world. All TV broadcasters are government-owned, and content is being carefully orchestrated on today's big event.
The Beijing government does not want any embarrassment on its big day, and actively avoids or outright censors content it considers sensitive.
So the footage on the left will not be seen by China's 1.4bn people.
Fifteen people hospitalised - one in critical condition
This just in from our Hong Kong reporter: the Hospital Authority has confirmed 15 people, aged between 18 and 52, have been hospitalised as of 17:00 local time (09:00 GMT).
One is in a critical condition.
'Leaving a trail of fire'
From the scene
Our reporter on the ground in Hong Kong is currently with the protesters as they are being forced back by tear gas fired by police.
But, she says, they appear to not be going without a fight: a series of fires have been lit along the road between the protesters and the police.
But the police - who have swept in from the side streets - are out in force.
She watched as they tackled one man who tried to run amid the tear gas.
Tear gas towards media
Our reporter in Admiralty - not far from Hong Kong's government offices - says police are firing tear gas in the direction journalists have retreated. Protesters seem to be leaving a trail of small fires as they retreat, she says.
A reminder that Hong Kong's protests are taking place in several locations today - it's hard to keep track of what's happening where. Anti-Beijing protests are not unusual on National Day, but after months of unrest the tensions in Hong Kong have rocketed, and the relationship between police and public has become highly adversary.
'Disperse or we fire'
Police in the Admiralty area have been seen holding up a red banner warning: "Disperse or we fire."
They've already fired a lot of tear gas in this area.
There are as yet unconfirmed reports in Hong Kong media that someone has been shot. We are trying to confirm this, and what the circumstances are.
Water cannon and teargas
The scenes evolving in Hong Kong now are exactly what Beijing will not have wanted to happen: violence and anger as teargas drifts between buildings, distracting the world from its celebrations.
Our reporter Tessa Wong is in the Admiralty area and said police are currently approaching with water cannon.
Clashes, fires and acid attack
Grace Tsoi
BBC News, Hong Kong
Intense clashes between police and protesters have broken out in multiple districts across Hong Kong.
Several motorbikes in Wong Tai Sin caught fire after protesters threw petrol bombs, according to our colleague on the ground. The fire was later put out. Earlier today, police officers and reporters were injured after protesters splashed corrosive liquid in the residential district of Tuen Mun.
Trying to storm a bridge in Hong Kong
Tessa Wong
BBC News, Hong Kong
A group of protesters are trying to storm an overhead bridge at Admiralty near theLegislative Council - known in Hong Kong as LegCo - where police are located. They are advancing slowly while crouching under several umbrellas.
Police are shooting tear gas at what feels like extremely close range. One canister bounced off a glass roof into the crowd.
Change of mood in Hong Kong
We're seeing a change of mood in Hong Kong now. Local media are reporting that live warning shots have been fired by officers in the Nathan Road area of Kowloon - still a rare event in these months of unrest.
The BBC's Tessa Wong in the Admiralty area says multiple rounds of tear gas has been fired there, and police are spraying blue water, which is used to identify protesters who leave the scene.
Another colleague on the ground reports that several motorbikes in Wong Tai Sin caught fire after protesters threw petrol bombs.
Before that, police officers and reporters were injured after protesters allegedly splashed corrosive liquid in the residential district of Tuen Mun, the BBC's Grace Tsoi in Hong Kong reports.
Praise for 'Grandpa Mao'
Kerry Allen, BBC Monitoring
Analysts have questioned in recent years whether Xi Jinping is trying to override Mao Zedong's legacy, following his removal of the presidential term limit in 2018 and the publication of his own "thoughts", effectively enabling him to build a personality cult.
But on a day when China reflects on how far it's come, the legacy of Mao Zedong, the founding father of China's Communist Party, has never been more apparent.
Media have given prominent attention to Mr Xi visiting the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall on the eve of the anniversary and paying the greatest tribute by carrying out the "sanjugong" or "three big bows" - an ultimate mark of respect to commemorate someone who has passed.
Official media say that Mr Xi “paid tribute to Mao Zedong’s legacy”, and social media users have shown they are as effusive towards their founding father as ever, despite the current government acknowledging that not everything Mao did was perfect.
On social media platform Sina Weibo, the nickname "Grandpa Mao" is given to Mao Zedong, and media call him a great "Comrade". Users say Mao will be “the leader of the people forever” and are leaving their tributes, with candle emojis [a signal of respect to the dead] and big red love hearts.
'Rejuvenation' and prosperity
Anna Jones
"No force can stop the Chinese people and the Chinese nation forging ahead."
It was no surprise that there were no surprises in President Xi Jinping's speech opening the grand parade today. He focused on a key theme of his presidency: that China is undergoing a "national rejuvenation" and must remain united in pursuit of peace and prosperity.
"Forging ahead we must remain committed to strategy of peaceful reunification and One Country Two Systems," he said. "Peaceful reunification" is a reference to Taiwan, which has been self-ruled for decades but which the Chinese government wants to return to mainland rule. While Beijing wants that to be a peaceful process it has not ruled out doing it by force.
"One country two systems" has described the relationship between mainland China and Hong Kong since the territory was handed back by the UK in 1997. That system is due to expire in 1947 – a year which once felt a long way off but now for many Hong Kongers feels very soon indeed, causing anxiety which is helping to fuel the ongoing protests. The Chinese government at times seems baffled as to why some in Hong Kong resist its leadership, when it is promising mutual prosperity and progress. State media has often, for example, depicted Hong Kong as a child rejecting its mother’s love.
Mr Xi also called on "the people of all ethnic groups" to be "firmly united". China is relentless about enforcing this spirit of unity, as Xinjiang can attest. The massive security operation there - which has seen more than a million people, mostly ethnic Muslim Uighurs, taken to what China calls training camps - is in the name of crushing separatism and preventing terrorism. The drive for unity also lies behind the near-total control of China’s media and its people’s access to information.
Taiwan condemns Beijing as 'dictatorship' on National Day
BBC Monitoring
The world through its media
Taiwan’s government has condemned Beijing as a “dictatorship” on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
In a statement, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) - Taiwan's top government body in charge of mainland China affairs - said the country's communist party had "imposed a one-party dictatorship for 70 years, a concept of governance that violates the values of democracy, freedom and human rights".
The MAC added that China's "shouts about a struggle for unity, great revival and reunification are only an excuse for military expansion, seriously threatening regional peace and world democracy and civilisation".
Earlier today, President Xi Jinping said China would promote peaceful relations with Taiwan and "continue to strive for the motherland’s complete reunification". Beijing claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan as part of its territory, to be reunified by force if necessary.
"The lifeline of the survival and development of mainland China is not tied to one person and one party," the MAC said, stressing that Taiwan would not be "bullied" into accepting China's territorial claims.
The MAC also said Taiwan would never accept the "one country, two systems" model proposed for the island by Beijing. The model is current in place in Hong Kong and Macau.
A moving sight in Hong Kong
Tessa Wong
BBC News, Hong Kong
As traffic is rerouted by protesters, large buses full of passengers are forced to make a U-turn.
Silently, as they pass the protesters on the road, the passengers raise their open palms in unison and press them against the glass.
The protesters raise their hands back in solidarity, chanting “five demands - not one less”.
'Tuck your shirts in' - Hong Kong protesters
Pratik Jakhar
BBC Monitoring
Hong Kong protesters are calling on each other to tuck in their shirts and roll up their trousers in what they say is an effort to expose undercover cops, the South China Morning Post reports.
Messages circulating on social media platforms such as Telegram and Reddit-like site LIHKG, have called for a "new dress code" for protesters that will make it difficult for undercover police to hide batons or revolvers around their waist and ankles.
The campaign comes after an alleged undercover Hong Kong police officer fired a warning shot into the air during clashes on 29 September.
"You think it’s too nerdy to tuck your shirts in? It could probably save your life!" reads a post on LIHKG, according to SCMP.