Hong Kong: Police detain more than 70 protesters

Hong Kong police have arrested more than 70 protesters as they fired water cannon and used pepper spray to break up the first protest since China introduced sweeping security laws, Report says, citing TASS.

The police Facebook page said officers took enforcement action in Causeway Bay and Wan Chai after protesters blocked roads, traffic, and lit fires.

On Tuesday, Beijing unveiled the details of the much-anticipated law after weeks of uncertainty, pushing China's freest city and one of the world's most glittering financial hubs onto a more authoritarian path.

As thousands of protesters gathered downtown for an annual rally marking the anniversary of the former British colony's handover to China in 1997, riot police used pepper spray to make arrests, while shops and one metro station closed.

On June 30, the Standing Committee of the national people's Congress (the highest legislative body) adopted the law on ensuring national security in Hong Kong. The legal action, which drew sharp criticism from the West and the Hong Kong opposition, came into force on the evening of the same day.

The law will punish crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison and officially set up mainland security agencies in Hong Kong for the first time, with powers beyond city laws.