Welcome to the BBC’s live coverage of events in Hong Kong, where thousands of pro-democracy protesters are on the streets and have shut down a large part of the Central Business District.

The protesters are angry at changes to Hong Kong’s democratic processes – Beijing has promised Hong Kong would have direct elections by 2017, but has since ruled voters will only be able to choose from a list of pre-approved candidates. For more on this read our Q&A on Hong Kong’s democracy debate.

Nathan Road, normally heaving with traffic at this time, has been shut down along with others major roads in central Hong Kong.

Thousands of protesters spent last night on the streets, ignoring demands from police that they disperse. Police fired tear gas on Sunday night and ordered crowds to stop charging police lines.

Hong Kong has been governed under a “one country, two systems” policy since it was handed back to China by the UK in 1997, which guarantees the territory liberties not seen on the Chinese mainland, including freedom of speech and the right to protest. The protesters say this is in danger.

“Today is the inevitable consequence of last month’s announcement from the Chinese parliament about restrictions on universal suffrage, but it is also a direct political challenge to Beijing – and therefore a defining test for China’s promise on one country, two systems.” Read more from Carrie on her blog: 10 things China’s leader Xi Jinping might be thinking

Standard Chartered and several other banks have suspended some operations in central Hong Kong amid the protests – counter staff have been advised to work from home or in other offices.

The umbrella has become the unofficial symbol of the protest movement, says the South China Morning Post, after students used the omnipresent accessory to shelter from tear gas and pepper spray. Supporters have begun referring to the protests as the “umbrella revolution”, says the paper.

The protesters have demanded that Hong Kong’s leader, chief executive CY Leung, step down. In a statement on Monday, Occupy Central blamed his “non-response to the people’s demands” for the unrest, saying it had “driven Hong Kong into a crisis of disorder”. It went on to urge all officials “who have a conscience, to resign from their positions and to stand with the people”.

Solidarity protests have also formed in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. Taiwan split from China in 1949 and China has always maintained the right to reclaim the island, by force if necessary. These students outside the Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei held signs saying “Hong Kong Today, Taiwan Tomorrow”.

Journalist Tessa Arcilla in Hong Kong tells the BBC she has seen protesters reprimanding police for their use of tear gas against unarmed youths. She says many people previously uninvolved in the demonstrations have joined in on Monday morning after seeing the footage on TV.

This is being seen as the last chance for Hong Kong people to stand up against Beijing, she adds, meaning the protests are all or nothing.

China is keeping a tight control on the mainland of coverage of the unrest. Overnight, Instagram appeared to have been blocked.

On Weibo, the biggest Chinese microblog, users have been sharing their frustrations. “I woke up this morning. Instagram was banned. I asked my friends. The same thing happened to them. Can China be more twisted? Why ban Instagram on top of Facebook and Twitter? This system makes me speechless,” said a user called ScavEn_Gers.

There are reports on Twitter that the government has ordered riot police to withdraw – no official confirmation yet.

This woman was on Nathan Road on Monday morning holding a sign in support of the protests.

It’s worth remembering that not everyone in Hong Kong wants the full democracy demanded by the students and Occupy Central. Pro-Beijing groups say civil disobedience will damage the city’s reputation and economy, as well as its relationship with China. For more on this and how Hong Kong has ended up at this point, see our explainer on Hong Kong’s democracy debate.

Earlier one of the Occupy Central organisers, Chan Kin-man, said it was “very encouraging” that so many people had joined the protests. “Many people chanted slogans, ‘we want true democracy, we want true universal suffrage’. And this is exactly the objective of our movement, and we are very happy to see what happened today,” he told the Associated Press.

To give a sense of the scale of the protests, Mashable have posted this aerial video footage from Hong Kong, taken by local site Apple Daily using a drone camera flown over the crowds. It’s not immediately clear when the video was shot.

“None of this would be allowed elsewhere in China, and mainland media are required to carry the state news agency version of events rather than covering the demonstrations for themselves. The danger is that Beijing loses patience and orders a crackdown which would have catastrophic consequences for Hong Kong.”

The Hong Kong government statement calls on protesters to remain calm and disperse peacefully as soon as possible. It says main thoroughfares are severely congested and schools in the Wan Chai, Central and Western areas are closed.

The Hong Kong Federation of Students are appealing on Twitter for supplies for protesters in the Admiralty area: ice bags, eye goggles, first aid kits, rain coats, mobile phone chargers and the ever-present umbrellas. They are also calling for more people to join them.

The US Consulate General in Hong Kong has issued a statement saying that while it does not support any particular groups, the US “strongly supports Hong Kong’s well-established traditions and Basic Law protections of internationally recognized fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press”.

The US statement continues: “Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity have long benefited from a vigorous dialogue among its citizens and a firmly established tradition of the peaceful and orderly expression of differing views. In accordance with this tradition, we encourage all sides to refrain from actions that would further escalate tensions, to exercise restraint, and to express views on the SAR’s [Special Administrative Region’s] political future in a peaceful manner.”

BBC Monitoring says newspapers in China are publishing few details of the Hong Kong protests, but have criticised them as “illegal”. An editorial in the China Daily accuses Occupy Central of “opportunistic adventure”, saying they have “in effect hijacked the will of the students who were there merely to voice their views about the proposed electoral reforms”.

For more on how newspapers in China are reacting to the Hong Kong unrest, read BBC Monitoring’s daily China media report.

If you’re just joining, welcome to our live coverage of events in Hong Kong. Thousands of people are on the streets, paralysing central areas. It is the culmination of a week of street protest against political reforms from Beijing which they say do not go far enough towards full democracy for the territory. For more on the background to the unrest, read our Q&A: Who are Hong Kong’s protesters?

In one indication of how China is viewing the protests, an editorial published in the pro-Beijing Global Times attributed to Wang Qiang, said to be deputy professor of China’s Armed Forces Political Academy, warned that: “Using armed forces in a country’s management to enforce law is a common practice nowadays.”

The article, which has since been taken down but had been widely shared, went on: “It’s obvious that in the case of emergency, the armed force can take orders from the central government to subdue riots, and restore social order in HKSAR [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] according to the People’s Armed Forces Law.”

Here is another image from Taipei, where Taiwanese protesters are staging solidarity protests and demanding their government cut all economic ties with China over the use of force in Hong Kong.

British journalist Tom Grundy, covering the events in Hong Kong, has put together a series of photos covering the last two days as the protests escalated. He tweets: “I compiled this in tears – appalled by what has happened to my adopted home and dismayed by the actions of the police & HK govt.”

“The central government has expressed its belief that the Hong Kong police will be able to handle the ‘illegal’ protests there. However, this hands-off policy must be creating great anxiety in the capital. If the protesters hold their ground, how far will Beijing allow events to spiral before getting directly involved?”

“The sight of Chinese troops confronting Hong Kong protestors, particularly students, would be a disaster for Beijing, leading to an international outcry. Beijing could revisit the dark days following its violent response to 1989’s pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. So, for now, Chinese leaders face an unusual set of political constraints. The Communist Party is unwilling to cede political control to the people of Hong Kong by refusing to allow direct elections in 2017. As a result, the Party is putting its faith in the abilities of the Hong Kong police to deal with the fall-out from that decision.”

Jason Y Ng spent most of Sunday night at Admiralty amid the protests. He writes in the South China Morning Post: “Tear gas might have been commonplace elsewhere in the world, but it isn’t in Hong Kong. Leung’s decision to deploy it, despite the political price he must pay, suggests that he has been given direct orders from Beijing to do whatever it takes to clear the streets before citizens return to work Monday morning. In so doing, however, he has irreversibly altered the relationship between people and government in Hong Kong. There is no turning back now – neither for him nor for us.”

The BBC’s chief business correspondent, Linda Yueh in Singapore, says the markets have reacted very little to unrest so far, and in fact markets are up in mainland China. Peaceful protests are generally seen as a sign of a stable democracy, she adds, but how China chooses to react could have a long-lasting impact on Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre.

Samuel M Chu took this photo on Harcourt Road.

Harcourt Road ‘Who is afraid of who?’

The protests initially focused on the Central Business District on Hong Kong Island, but have spread to the shopping district of Causeway Bay in the east, and across the harbour to the busy, tourist-heavy area around Nathan Road in Kowloon. Roads are closed in many areas, and businesses have not opened. This bank in Nathan Road was shuttered on Monday morning.

Many people in Hong Kong have been changing their Facebook profile pictures to that of a yellow ribbon – or a yellow umbrella – in a sign of support to the protesters. Others have adopted a blue ribbon, to show support for the police.

Yellow ribbons have also started appearing on street signs and at entrances to underground stations in areas held by protesters.

Vox says the difficulty for foreign journalists of getting permits to work in China could backfire for Beijing. Many base themselves in Hong Kong instead, says the magazine, meaning the territory is “full of extremely talented foreign correspondents who have a history of reporting on the Chinese Communist Party and its abuses. And many of them have personal experience with the Party’s heavier-handed tactics”.

The “Umbrella Revolution” is fast becoming the social media term for the Hong Kong protests, after protesters used umbrellas to shelter not only from Hong Kong’s 30C heat, but to protect themselves from tear gas and pepper spray. South China Morning Post has pulled together some of the images being shared online.

Nicola Cheung, an 18-year-old student taking part in protests in the Admiralty area, told Reuters “it’s going to get violent again because the Hong Kong government isn’t going to stand for us occupying this area. We are fighting for our core values of democracy and freedom, and that is not something violence can scare us away from”.

Hong Kong media are reporting that the crowd of protesters in Mong Kok in Kowloon has now grown to several thousand. RTHK said protesters are chanting: “CY Leung, resign!”

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has weighed in, saying: “We fully understand and support Hong Kong people in their call for full universal suffrage.”

He added: “We urge the mainland authorities to listen to the voice of Hong Kong people and use peaceful and cautious measures to handle these issues.”

Reports are coming in that the crowd of protesters at the shopping district of Causeway Bay has swelled after lunchtime. The police have asked people not to obstruct the roads, but protesters have refused to disperse.

Supporters of the protests have amassed outside Hong Kong House in Sydney, putting up notes of support.

Local media are reporting that the police will hold a press conference at 4pm local time to explain how they have been handling the demonstrations over the last three days.

The leader of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong, Cardinal John Tong Hon, has issued a statement calling on the city’s government to make “the personal safety of fellow citizens” their prime concern.

“There may have been problems with inequality and sky-high real estate prices, but Hong Kong’s high degree of economic freedom is also a large contributor to its prosperity. So the reaction to the protesters will matter a great deal for Hong Kong if it is to retain its status as one of the top global financial centres where money flows freely across its borders and investors are comfortable investing billions into its stock market.” Read for from Linda on her blog.

Protester Rick Chan, a 32-year-old finance worker, tells the Associated Press: “I came last night and saw police fire many rounds of tear gas at the crowd, who were mostly young students and even included some old people. I feel it was extremely unnecessary. They could see protesters were not dangerous. Instead they made everyone very angry. I plan to stay here indefinitely.”

In a sign of how global local protest movements can become in the 21st Century, some of the Hong Kong demonstrators have in recent days adopted the “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture used by protesters in Ferguson, Missouri after the fatal shooting by police of unarmed US teenager, Michael Brown.

Staff in Hong Kong’s government headquarters have been advised to leave work by 18:00 local time, (10:00 GMT), according to an email seen by Harbour Times.

Christina Chung, taking part in the protests, said she found the authorities’ attempts to justify the use of force “fundamentally frightening…. I bear no illusions for a democratic utopia. I just know that I don’t want to live under a government that does not act in the interest of its people… If we don’t fight now, our civil liberties will only erode even further. If a push towards true democracy means that our interests can be better represented, then I’m in that camp.”

Helmets off but keeping watch, these police were listening to speeches during the rally near government HQ.

In a press conference in the past hour, Cheung Tak-keung (assistant commissioner of police for operations) said police had used the “bare minimum force” in circumstances where it had had no choice, and only after it issuing warnings to protesters to no effect.

Cheung Tak-keung said the protest became illegal when people broke into government offices and occupied roads, affecting transport and medical services. He said 41 people had been injured in the past three days, including police officers, and called on protesters to disperse.

Hong Kong’s firework display planned for 1 October has been called off, says a government press release. The event was to mark National Day, which celebrates the founding of the People’s Republic of China and would have been a huge tourist attraction.

“In view of the latest situation, it is anticipated that main access roads leading to hot spots for viewing the fireworks display may continue to be seriously affected. Having regard to public transport arrangements and public safety considerations, the National Day Fireworks Display originally scheduled at Victoria Harbour on October 1 (Wednesday) at 8pm will be cancelled” – government press release.

Raymond Li of the BBC’s Chinese service says Beijing is concerned about the idea of full democracy in Hong Kong for two reasons – firstly, because it fears the implications of a chief executive being elected who is against Beijing. But secondly, because if Hong Kong gains the right to directly elect its leaders it could encourage other parts of China to demand the same.

BBC Chinese have spoken to Chan Kin-man, one of the organisers of Occupy Central, who said that the two days of protest had temporarily achieved the purpose of disrupting and paralysing Hong Kong’s economy.

He also said that while the demonstration was part of the Occupy Central movement, the movement was not controlling it – it has instead become spontaneous action, he said.

Hong Kong’s police have said in their press conference that a total of 87 rounds of tear gas were fired during Sunday night’s protests.

“China is warning other countries to stay out of what it considers to be an internal affair…. China’s State Council, the top tier of the central government, also says it is ‘fully confident’ Hong Kong’s government can handle the Occupy Central movement using the territory’s own laws, in an attempt to alleviate fears that Chinese armed police will resort to violence to end the protests.”

Despite the repeated demands from officials, there is no sign that the crowds are ready to go home. This was the scene a short time ago outside government headquarters:

The UK Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for Hong Kong, telling Britons to monitor local media for updates and avoid public demonstrations.

The UK Foreign Office has said it is “concerned about the situation in Hong Kong and is monitoring events carefully”. In a statement a spokesman said it was “Britain’s longstanding position, as a co-signatory of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, that Hong Kong’s prosperity and security are underpinned by its fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to demonstrate. It is important for Hong Kong to preserve these rights and for Hong Kong people to exercise them within the law”.

The FCO statement continues: “These freedoms are best guaranteed by the transition to universal suffrage. We hope that the upcoming consultation period will produce arrangements which allow a meaningful advance for democracy in Hong Kong, and we encourage all parties to engage constructively in discussion to that end.”

A number of professions have said they are backing the protests, or have walked out of work in solidarity. RTHK reports that 2,000 social workers began an indefinite strike on Monday, demanding an apology for police actions against the demonstrations and “protesting against Beijing’s restrictive political framework for Hong Kong”.

An image of protesters gathered in Causeway Bay, normally the scene of high-end shopping trips.

Michael Schuman says Hong Kong’s economic success is “inexorably intertwined” with the civil liberties its citizens enjoy. “If Beijing knocks one of those pillars away ­if it suppresses people’s freedoms, or tampers with its judiciary, ­Hong Kong would become just another Chinese city, unable to fend off the challenge from Shanghai.”

Hong Kong protester Collier Nogues sent in this image from Causeway Bay MTR. “The [small Chinese] sign in the middle of the photo – ‘Fight for democracy/ Sorry for the inconvenience’ – is characteristic of the feeling everywhere I went this afternoon. Generous, polite, genuine.”

China’s foreign affairs ministry spokesman Hua Chunying has warned other countries to stay out of Hong Kong’s protests: “I want to emphasise that Hong Kong belongs to China. It is a special administrative region and Hong Kong’s affairs are considered purely for China to handle. I hope other countries do not interfere in Hong Kong’s matters, do not support Occupy Central’s illegal activities, and do not send out the wrong message.”

So who is behind the unrest? We’ve published a guide to the main players in the current protests.

Night has fallen in Hong Kong, and a growing number of protesters continue to block the main street to the Central district.

More from the statement issued earlier by the leader of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong. Cardinal John Tong Hon also urged the government to exercise restraint and asked them to listen to the voices of “the younger generation and citizens of all walks of life”.

The chief secretary for administration, Carrie Lam, has told reporters that while she understood public concern over the police’s handling of the protests, she believes the police used an “appropriate” level of force and asked for Hong Kong residents’ understanding.

Alex Chow, the secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, has called on protesters to “fight till the end” while at the same time refraining from violence. He told reporters that he hoped protesters would keep their distance from “provocateurs”.

Professor Michael Davis from the University of Hong Kong’s faculty of law said he hoped the administration could play an intermediary role to help Beijing understand the protesters’ concerns. But he told the BBC the Hong Kong government appeared to have “inflamed” the situation with its tactics.

The BBC’s Martin Patience in Hong Kong says as the evening draws in many of the protesters are saying they intend to remain in central areas overnight. But he said there is a “silent minority, if not majority” in Hong Kong who would like the protests to end, fearing the impact they could be having on the economy.

Occupy Central organiser Benny Tai has praised the achievements of the movement, noting protests have spread beyond the central district into other parts of the city. The South China Morning Post quoted him as saying: “People use peace and hope, while the government used tear gas and pepper spray.”

In anticipation of the police possibly using tear gas on protesters again, most who are camped outside the government headquarters have come equipped with face masks and umbrellas.

Earlier in the day protesters began to stack umbrellas for use against possible tear gas by police.

A Facebook page called Support HK Police has been set up to support the Hong Kong police as they manage the protests. More than 9,000 people have liked the page, which shows pictures of damaged police vehicles.

Multiple rallies around the world have been planned in support of the Hong Kong protests, according to a Facebook page called United for Democracy: Global Solidarity with Hong Kong. Gatherings are being organised for cities in Australia, the US, Europe and other parts of Asia. In the UK, rallies will be held in London, Manchester, and Edinburgh.

Chinese authorities have been censoring social media posts about the Hong Kong protests, while rallies are being organised all around the world. Read more: China censors HK protest posts online

A protester at Mong Kok has told BBC Chinese there is a good camaraderie. Some have donated drinking water and food – although there were few takers as people wanted to leave it for those they felt would need them most. According to estimates by Hong Kong media, up to 10,000 people have gathered there.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying warns against any foreign interference. “Hong Kong affairs are completely China’s internal affairs,” she is quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.

The demonstrators are said to be looking for new ways to communicate amid reports the authorities might shut down the city’s cellular networks. BBC Trending takes a look at the social network that doesn’t need the internet, or a cellular network, to function.

Chinese artist and social activist, Ai Weiwei, describes the current protests in Hong Kong as “a very fragile moment”. “The young people are concerned about their own future,” he tells CNN.

Student protester Lydia Leung tells the BBC: “I don’t think people (demonstrators) will compromise easily. I will stay until the government responds to us.”

The South China Morning Post is reporting that a number of stores decided to close early, among them Sogo in Causeway Bay and retailers in the Pacific Place shopping centre.

According to Reuters, the protests have led to visitors to Hong Kong from mainland China falling sharply ahead of this week’s National Day holidays. As well as the UK, travel alerts have been issued by the US, Australia and Singapore. Meanwhile, city authorities have cancelled Wednesday’s fireworks display over the harbour to mark the holiday.

A rally in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has taken place in support of the protests.

An embarrassing slip of the tongue by Hong Kong’s chief secretary Carrie Lam, when she tells a press briefing that police used “appropriate violence” when dealing with protesters on Sunday, South China Morning Post website reports. Her spokesman issued a statement an hour later to clarify that Ms Lam meant to say “appropriate force” when describing the use of batons and tear gas. (BBC Monitoring)

Asian stock markets closed on Monday mostly lower as investors fretted over the protests in Hong Kong, where the main Hang Seng index fell 1.9%, Associated Press reports. The protests also appeared to have an impact on the Dow Jones in the US, which dropped nearly 1% on its opening, while Europe was trading lower. Investors are said to be watching the continued unrest for any potential impact on Chinese growth.

Protesters have been denied permission to hold an official rally in central Hong Kong on Wednesday, a police source tells the South China Morning Post website. “We have reason to believe that the event would turn into an illegal activity”, they are quoted as saying. (BBC monitoring)

The BBC’s Hong Kong correspondent Juliana Liu says thousands of protesters appear to be settling in for the night. But the atmosphere is far less tense than Sunday, she adds, coming on the back of the announcement that riot police would be withdrawn from the streets.

The protesters in the Mong Kok district of Kowloon also appear to intend to stay for the night.

says China’s state media is tightly constrained, describing the demonstrators as radical activists engaged in an illegal campaign that will damage Hong Kong. The Global Times newspaper says the opposition movement is doomed. It says comparisons with Tiananmen Square are absurd and that China has learned many lessons about how to handle social disorder since then.

BBC Monitoring has not observed any coverage of the Hong Kong protests on China’s CCTV 13 on Monday. State-owned CCTV 13 is the country’s main Chinese-language rolling news channel.

People around the world have been expressing solidarity with Hong Kong protesters by sharing photos of yellow ribbons, the symbol of the ongoing demonstrations.

Protester Jessica Yeung tells the BBC there are “all kinds of people” demonstrating on the streets. “Some are in their 90s; and also very young ones,” she says, adding that the success of the action will depend on “how long we can hang on, how we can turn this into a long-term fight”.

Protesters remain outside the government headquarters, in the central financial district.

And are staging a sit-down protest in the road in a shopping district.

A website called Free Weibo has been collecting censored posts from the Chinese social media site, the Wall Street Journal reports. One user wrote: “Wishing the Hong Kong Occupy Central people well, and hoping that the Hong Kong media can honour their pledge of being Hong Kong’s conscience.”

Despite the crowds around the war memorial in Hong Kong, not one person is standing or sitting on the grass, writes the South China Morning Post website reports. It says there’s a new cardboard sign over the usual sign telling people not to go on the grass.

The US government says it is closely watching the situation in Hong Kong, urging the authorities to show restraint and protesters to be peaceful, Reuters reports.

As the protests enter their fourth night, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the US supports the “aspirations of the Hong Kong people”. He added: “We believe that the basic legitimacy of the chief executive in Hong Kong will be greatly enhanced if the basic law’s ultimate aim of selection of the chief executive by universal suffrage is fulfilled.”

This brings to an end our live coverage of mass pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Thanks for staying with us. You can follow all the latest developments on this and other stories on the BBC News website.