Hong Kong protesters sing 'God Save the Queen' in plea for help from Britain

George Martin
Protesters hold placards and British flags during a peaceful demonstration outside the British Consulate in Hong Kong, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019. Hundreds of Hong Kong activists rallied outside the Consulate for a second time this month, bolstering calls for international support in their months-long protests for democratic reforms in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Protesters hold placards and British flags during a peaceful demonstration outside the British Consulate on Sunday. (AP)

Protesters in Hong Kong gathered outside the British Consulate and sang "God Save the Queen" on Sunday in a desperate plea for intervention from the UK.

Demonstrators wer filmed waving British flags and singing the national anthem as they asked the former colonial power to put pressure on China.

Banners reading "One country, two systems is dead" and "UK save Hong Kong" were carried by protesters as violent protests erupted elsewhere in the city.

Hong Kong was ceded to China by Britain under a "one country, two systems" agreement in 1997.

Protesters carry a British flag gather at a shopping district during a rally in Hong Kong, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019. Thousands of Hong Kong people chanted slogans and marched Sunday at a downtown shopping district in defiance of a police ban, with shops shuttered amid fears of renewed violence in the months-long protests for democratic reforms in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Protesters carry a British flag gather at a shopping district as they defy a government ban to march. (AP)

The agreement was intended to guarantee freedoms not granted on the mainland until 2047.

But since the recent unrest began, China has accused Britain of being behind the protests.

Britain has said it is legally responsible to uphold the agreement signed in 1997, but it is unclear what action the UK can take.

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Thousands of demonstrators have marched through Hong Kong in defiance of a police ban, as shops closed amid fears of renewed violence.

A mixed crowd of hardcore protesters in black and wearing masks, along with families with children, spilled into the roads of the Causeway Bay shopping belt and marched for more than a mile to the Central business district.

Some waved US and British flags, while others carried posters reiterating their calls for democratic reforms.

Police had turned down a request by the Civil Human Rights Front to hold the march, but the demonstrators were undeterred, as they have been all summer.

The protests were triggered in June by an extradition bill that many saw as an example of China’s increasing intrusion and at chipping away at Hong Kong residents’ freedoms and rights, many of which are not accorded to people in mainland China.

Hong Kong’s government promised this month to withdraw the bill, which would have allowed some criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial, but protesters have widened their demands to include direct elections for the city’s leaders and police accountability.

There have been increasing clashes between protesters and police, who demonstrators have accused of abuses.

More than 1,300 people have been arrested since the protests started.