<p class="title">Thousands of protesters rallied in central Hong Kong, seizing two main highways on Wednesday, in a defiant show of strength against government plans to allow extraditions to China.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Asian financial hub was rocked over the weekend by the largest protest march since the city's 1997 return to China, as vast crowds -- estimated by organisers at over one million -- called on authorities to scrap the Beijing-backed plan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Thousands of black-clad protesters, most of them young people and students, blocked two central roads near the government offices with metal barricades, bringing traffic to a standstill, in an echo of the Occupy movement in 2014 that shut down swathes of the city for months.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Rows of riot police faced down the protesters -- many wearing face masks, helmets or goggles -- just hours ahead of a planned debate on the bill on Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Police used pepper spray on protesters at the legislative council building and held up signs warning demonstrators they were prepared to use force if the crowds didn't stop charging.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The record crowds have failed to sway chief executive Carrie Lam who has rejected calls to withdraw or delay the bill and warned opponents against committing "radical acts".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many are fearful the proposed law will tangle people in the mainland's opaque courts and hammer Hong Kong's reputation as an international business hub.</p>.<p class="bodytext">More than 100 Hong Kong businesses said they would close Wednesday in a sign of solidarity with the protesters, and the city's major student unions announced they would boycott classes to attend the rallies.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A string of other prominent unions in the transport, social work and teaching sectors either followed suit or encouraged members to attend while a bus drivers' union said it would encourage members to drive deliberately slowly on Wednesday to support protests.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Overnight, a group of around 2,000 protesters held a vigil outside the government offices, with some singing hymns.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hardline protesters had on Sunday made similar plans to spend the night but were prevented by police, who fought running battles with small groups of demonstrators.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Throughout Tuesday evening, police flooded the area around the government offices, stopping and searching many young people as they arrived in the area.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Lawmakers are to debate the bill on Wednesday morning in the city's legislature, which is dominated by Beijing loyalists. A final vote is expected on June 20.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The proposed law would allow extraditions to any jurisdiction with which Hong Kong does not already have a treaty -- including mainland China.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hong Kong's leaders say it is needed to plug loopholes and to stop the city being a sanctuary for fugitives, and that safeguards are in place to ensure that political critics of Beijing will not be targeted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But many Hong Kongers have little faith in the government's assurances after years of heightened fears that a resurgent Beijing is trying to quash the city's unique freedoms and culture -- despite a 50-year agreement between Hong Kong's former colonial ruler, Britain, and China that means the city is guaranteed freedoms of speech and assembly unseen on the Chinese mainland.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The pastor of a usually pro-government mega-church issued a statement saying he could not support the bill while the Catholic diocese urged Lam -- a devout Catholic -- to delay the bill. Western governments have also voiced alarm, with the US this week warning the bill would put people at risk of "China's capricious judicial system".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Beijing hit back on Tuesday, with a foreign ministry official saying China "resolutely opposes interference in Hong Kong affairs". </p>
<p class="title">Thousands of protesters rallied in central Hong Kong, seizing two main highways on Wednesday, in a defiant show of strength against government plans to allow extraditions to China.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Asian financial hub was rocked over the weekend by the largest protest march since the city's 1997 return to China, as vast crowds -- estimated by organisers at over one million -- called on authorities to scrap the Beijing-backed plan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Thousands of black-clad protesters, most of them young people and students, blocked two central roads near the government offices with metal barricades, bringing traffic to a standstill, in an echo of the Occupy movement in 2014 that shut down swathes of the city for months.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Rows of riot police faced down the protesters -- many wearing face masks, helmets or goggles -- just hours ahead of a planned debate on the bill on Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Police used pepper spray on protesters at the legislative council building and held up signs warning demonstrators they were prepared to use force if the crowds didn't stop charging.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The record crowds have failed to sway chief executive Carrie Lam who has rejected calls to withdraw or delay the bill and warned opponents against committing "radical acts".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many are fearful the proposed law will tangle people in the mainland's opaque courts and hammer Hong Kong's reputation as an international business hub.</p>.<p class="bodytext">More than 100 Hong Kong businesses said they would close Wednesday in a sign of solidarity with the protesters, and the city's major student unions announced they would boycott classes to attend the rallies.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A string of other prominent unions in the transport, social work and teaching sectors either followed suit or encouraged members to attend while a bus drivers' union said it would encourage members to drive deliberately slowly on Wednesday to support protests.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Overnight, a group of around 2,000 protesters held a vigil outside the government offices, with some singing hymns.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hardline protesters had on Sunday made similar plans to spend the night but were prevented by police, who fought running battles with small groups of demonstrators.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Throughout Tuesday evening, police flooded the area around the government offices, stopping and searching many young people as they arrived in the area.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Lawmakers are to debate the bill on Wednesday morning in the city's legislature, which is dominated by Beijing loyalists. A final vote is expected on June 20.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The proposed law would allow extraditions to any jurisdiction with which Hong Kong does not already have a treaty -- including mainland China.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hong Kong's leaders say it is needed to plug loopholes and to stop the city being a sanctuary for fugitives, and that safeguards are in place to ensure that political critics of Beijing will not be targeted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But many Hong Kongers have little faith in the government's assurances after years of heightened fears that a resurgent Beijing is trying to quash the city's unique freedoms and culture -- despite a 50-year agreement between Hong Kong's former colonial ruler, Britain, and China that means the city is guaranteed freedoms of speech and assembly unseen on the Chinese mainland.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The pastor of a usually pro-government mega-church issued a statement saying he could not support the bill while the Catholic diocese urged Lam -- a devout Catholic -- to delay the bill. Western governments have also voiced alarm, with the US this week warning the bill would put people at risk of "China's capricious judicial system".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Beijing hit back on Tuesday, with a foreign ministry official saying China "resolutely opposes interference in Hong Kong affairs". </p>