Hong Kong

HONG Kong police will help clear pro-democracy protest sites in the Mong Kok district as soon as preparations are complete, amid signs of escalating tension after some demonstrators broke into lawmakers' offices.

A small group of protesters smashed through a glass door of the Legislative Council building in the Admiralty district early on Wednesday, using metal barricades and concrete blocks. Police used pepper spray to repel other people who charged at them, footage broadcast on Cable TV Hong Kong showed. Protest leaders and pro-democracy lawmakers condemned the break-in.