Hong Kong police arrests 36 people after violent clashes between demonstrators

Hong Kong police have arrested 36 people after violence erupted during anti-government demonstrations as protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at security forces who responded with water cannon and tear gas.

Sunday's protests were some of the fiercest clashes yet between police and demonstrators since protests escalated in mid-June.

The protests began after the government introduced a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong people to be sent to mainland China for trial.

Police fired water cannon and volleys of tear gas in running battles with brick-throwing protesters on Sunday, the second day of violent clashes in the Chinese-ruled city.

Six officers drew their pistols and one officer fired a warning shot into the air, police said in a statement.

"The escalating illegal and violent acts of radical protesters are not only outrageous, they also push Hong Kong to the verge of a very dangerous situation," the government said in a statement.

Police said they arrested 29 men and seven women, aged 12 to 48, for offences including unlawful assembly, possession of offensive weapons and assaulting police officers.

The clashes on Saturday and Sunday marked a return to unrest after days of calmer demonstrations.

Hong Kong is facing its biggest political crisis since the handover of power from British rule in 1997.

Protesters say they are fighting the erosion of the "one country, two systems" arrangement under which Hong Kong returned to China with the promise of continued freedoms, not enjoyed on the mainland, for 50 years.