Hong Kong police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the upmarket Causeway Bay shopping district on Sunday, after demonstrators had rallied at the US Consulate calling for help in bringing democracy to the Chinese-ruled city.

Police moved on protesters from the Central business district who dispersed to nearby Admiralty, the bar district of Wan Chai and on to Causeway Bay in a now-familiar pattern of cat-and-mouse clashes over three months of unrest.