
Thousands of demonstrators blocked roads and pavements outside the Chinese embassy in London last night as support for Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests spread around the world.

Organisers said 3,000 people in London wanted to show citizens of the former colony ‘they are not alone’, as they fixed more demonstrations yesterday in 25 more cities including New York, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Paris, Toronto, Seoul, Taipei, Sydney and Melbourne.

In the streets of central London and New York's bustling Times Square alike the protesters held yellow umbrellas, which have become the symbol of pro-decmocracy campaigners who used them to take cover first from sun and rain, then from tear gas.

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Solidarity: Organisers said 3,000 people gathered outside the Chinese embassy in central London to support pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong

Umbrella Revolution: The London protesters held aloft the implements, which have become the symbol of demonstrators who used them to block rain, sun... and tear gas

Passionate: The peaceful protesters held lights on their phones aloft in Marylebone, central London. The protests began when China intervened in the 2017 election

Scale: Police look on as thousands attend a demonstration outside the embassy. In Hong Kong protesters have threatened to start occupying government buildings

Protesters in Hong Kong vowed to bring the crisis to a head later today and start occupying government buildings - raising fresh fears of violence - if Chief Executive CY Leung did not resign.

In London the atmosphere was peaceful, with protesters chanting for CY Leung's resignation and singing Do You Hear the People Sing, the theme of the French Revolution musical Les Miserables.

Another demonstration was organised last night in central Manchester, where students holding placards watched videos of protesters on the streets of Hong Kong.

Calum Wilson, a British expat born and raised in Hong Kong who attended the protests in London, told MailOnline: 'We are here to show support to the protesters in Hong Kong.

'I think the main conversation on this issue is taking place in Hong Kong, but I'm here because I think it's important to show the international community care about this issue and are watching how Hong Kong government and china deal with the situation.

'It's really just to bring attention to the important issue of democracy.'

The protests in London and Manchester were among more than 25 demonstrations around the world yesterday arranged in support of ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

In Manchester (left) demonstrators addressed the crowd using loudhailers and volunteers showed videos of the protests from Hong Kong on their laptop screens (right)

Anger: Hundreds of people also gathered in Piccadilly Gardens in central Manchester in a show of support for those on the streets of the former British colony

Mirroring the actions of those in Hong Kong, the protesters in Manchester sat on the ground peacefully and held aloft placards and lights on their mobile phones

The organisation United for Democracy: Global Solidarity with Hong Kong said protests were planned yesterday for Auckland, Edinburgh, Houston, Christchurch, Hamburg, Melbourne, Seattle, Taipei, Oslo, Montreal, Seoul, Paris, Toronto, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Washington and Boston.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the Asian financial hub in the last week after China said it would vet candidates for a leadership election in 2017.

In China, an editorial in People’s Daily warned of ‘unimaginable consequences’ if the protests continued, while state TV said Hong Kong’s police should be supported in their attempts to ‘restore the social order as soon as possible’.

Former governor Chris Patten yesterday accused China of breaking the promises it made before the handover of Hong Kong, as protests in the former British colony reached a peak.

He said dialogue ‘must replace tear gas and pepper spray’ and that the current situation represented ‘a breach of what the Chinese government have promised Hong Kong’.

Shared anger: Protesters gathered in New York's Times Square held aloft yellow umbrellas, the symbol of the movement for democracy in the former colony

The rally in Times Square (pictured) was among others organised yesterday in Auckland, Edinburgh, Houston, Christchurch, Hamburg, Melbourne, Seattle, Taipei, Oslo, Montreal, Seoul, Paris, Toronto, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Washington and Boston according to the group United for Democracy: Global Solidarity with Hong Kong

Warning: Protesters in New York gave a taste of what they feared the future could hold in placards comparing the island territory to Tibet

Chants: Protesters in New York. Others around the world have taken to chanting Do You Hear the People Sing, the revolutionary theme from the musical Les Miserables

Protests: In Times Square, the umbrella-holding demonstrators were illuminated in the night by the area's famous digital billboards advertising Western goods

New York Support: Hundreds gathered in Times Square on Wednesday to rally in support of Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution and are demanding an end to violent police repression of Hong Kong democracy activists occupying central areas of the city

Umbrella revolution: People hold up customized umbrellas during a rally in New York's Times Square on Wednesday and students bearing umbrellas as a sign of solidarity gathered at rallies in several U.S. cities to show support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong

Umbrella for peace: Protesters gathered in New York on Wednesday to share their anger with Hong Kong's violent police repression

The demonstrators have been thronging the streets of Hong Kong for the last six days to protest against China’s demands to vet the candidates for a 2017 leadership election.

The protests are the worst in Hong Kong since China resumed its rule and pose one of the biggest political challenges for Beijing since it violently crushed pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Lord Patten said the protesters were merely standing up for what they were promised in the territory’s Basic Law, which was drafted in accordance with an agreement on Hong Kong between Britain and China in 1984, ahead of the 1997 handover.

‘They said these matters were within the autonomy of the Hong Kong government and they are now reneging on that,’ he told the BBC.

‘In the Basic Law and in the promises that people were given, it’s absolutely clear that the pace of democratisation is a matter for the Hong Kong government.

‘It is described as being within Hong Kong’s “high degree of autonomy”. It is absolutely absurd to say that this is all decided by the authorities in Beijing.’

Lord Patten said he believed earlier Hong Kong leaders had probably failed to make Beijing aware of the strength of pro-democracy feeling.

Symbolic: Hundreds of people gathered in front of Liberty Square in Taipei, Taiwan, to show their support for the pro-democracy rallies taking place in Hong Kong

The protests around the world have been largely peaceful, and organisers said they were intended to make a powerful statement to the Chinese government

Messages: Student Harmony So, originally from Hong Kong, uses tape to secure colourful post-it notes to Hong Kong House yesterday in Sydney, Australia

Stark: The messages left in Sydney referenced the harsh treatment of protesters by the Chinese government with the slogan: 'They can't kill us all'

Massacre: Protesters in Manchester. The former colony's last governor Lord Patten said the protesters were merely standing up for what they were promised in the territory’s Basic Law, which was drafted in accordance with an agreement on Hong Kong between Britain and China in 1984, ahead of the 1997 handover

Dedication: The protesters in Manchester remained in the square as dusk fell, wearing yellow ribbons and carrying yellow umbrellas, symbols of the movement

But he dismissed fears of direct Chinese intervention and the possibility of another Tiananmen Square massacre.

‘I cannot believe that the Chinese leadership would be so crazy,’ he said. ‘I can’t believe that they would act in such a brutal and immoral way.

‘I cannot believe it would be so stupid as to do anything like send in the army.’

He added: ‘I think in order to save face for Beijing and for the Hong Kong government, the right thing to do is to embark on a new period of consultation, make it genuine consultation, because there are a lot of very moderate people on the pro-democracy side.’

Riot police had used tear gas, pepper spray and baton charges at the weekend to try to quell the unrest, but tensions have eased since.

Many had feared police would use force to move crowds before yesterday’s celebrations marking the anniversary of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Epicentre: Protesters in Hong Kong. Many warned they would escalate the demonstrations later today by occupying government buildings if demands were not met

Flood: Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Hong Kong once again last night, holding smartphone lights aloft against the skyline of the business hub

No room to move: The demonstrators have occupied every square inch of pavement and road in the city of 7million people and warned the protests could escalate

Building bridges: The people have called on the Chinese government to allow a more accountable, democratic system and elect leaders by way of universal suffrage

Injustice: Hong Kong residents have long felt their island stood apart from mainland China thanks to enhanced civil liberties and separate legal and financial systems

Dawn breaks: Some student protesters stayed on the streets of Hong Kong through to this morning, taking shelter from the elements in tents on the pavement

Security officials in Beijing have also been accused accused of using sophisticated malware technology to glean information from protesters communicating with iPhones and iPads.

When China took control of Hong Kong in 1997, it agreed to a policy of 'one country, two systems' which allowed it a high degree of control over its own affairs and kept in place liberties unseen on the mainland.