ANTI-GOVERNMENT protests have continued in Hong Kong after authorities shut down subway services and criminalised the wearing of face masks at rallies.

Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam reaffirmed her determination not to let rioters get the upper hand in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory, which she said had been “semi-paralysed” by demonstrations.

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Marchers have defied the new ban on face coverings, which the government says have made it difficult for police to identify violent protesters.

Shielded under umbrellas, with many still wearing masks, several hundred demonstrators marched through a thoroughfare in the central business district, carrying a yellow banner marked: “Glory to Hong Kong” and chanting: “Hong Kong, resist.”

The closure of the entire MTR network of subways and trains

which regularly handles more than four million trips a day also caused major disruption to the city of 7.5m people.