Hong Kong: A timeline of anti-government protests since China handover

About half a million people march against an attempt to introduce a national security law that critics feared would curtail free speech.

It is the first mass demonstration movement since the handover. 

The bill is eventually shelved.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators, many of them school children, surround the government complex for 10 days to protest an order for schools to teach "Moral and National Education" classes.

The curriculum praised China's communist and nationalist history while criticising republicanism and democracy movements.

It is eventually abandoned.

Some of the protest leaders, such as then 15-year-old Joshua Wong, go on to become leading democracy advocates.

In late 2014, tens of thousands of protesters paralyse parts of the city for two months with mass student-led demonstrations and sit-ins to demand reforms including the right to elect the city's leader.

Police use pepper spray and tear gas against protesters, who wield umbrellas to protect themselves.

Police dismantle the main pro-democracy site in December. 

The movement wins no concessions and many leaders are imprisoned. 

In February Hong Kong's government announces plans for a bill that would allow, for the first time, extraditions to mainland China.

There are fears the law will tighten Beijing's grip on civil society and allow it to pursue political enemies in Hong Kong.

Tens of thousands of people march against it on April 28 in one of the biggest demonstrations since the Umbrella Movement.

Hong Kong's government responds on May 30, saying the law will only apply to cases involving a potential jail term of at least seven years.

On June 9, organisers say more than one million people join the biggest demonstration since the return to Chinese rule.

The police, who make 19 arrests, put the turnout at 240,000.

After thousands of people come out on the streets again for the annual July 1 march to mark the return to China, hundreds of young masked protesters ransack parliament.

Police retake control of the building hours later.

On July 9 Lam says the extradition bill "is dead" but protesters dismiss her comments.

On July 21, following another massive demonstration, protesters are beaten up in Yuen Long, in the city's northwest, by a gang of white-clad suspected triad members.

On July 28, police engage in running battles with pro-democracy protesters close to Beijing's office in Hong Kong, launching volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets.

On July 30, 44 protesters are charged with rioting -- an offence carrying a jail term of up to ten years -- triggering more clashes.

On August 3, for the ninth consecutive weekend of protests, demonstrators erect barricades in a popular tourist district.

Tens of thousands of protesters march through the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui, embracing their mantra "be water" -- a philosophy of unpredictability espoused by local martial arts legend Bruce Lee.