The status of the third detained lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai is not known.

Tensions mount as activists, lawmakers arrested in crackdown ahead of banned march

Also arrested on Friday were young activists Joshua Wong Chi-fung and Agnes Chow Ting, who have since been charged and granted bail, and Andy Chan Ho-tin, convenor of the now-outlawed Hong Kong National Party.

He was released on bail from Tsuen Wan Police Station and appeared outside to accuse him of obstructing police officers in execution of their duties on June 7.

Tam believed police arrested him for political reasons, to scare Hongkongers from taking to the streets on Saturday.

“It has been almost two months,” he said outside the police station, referring to the passing of time since the alleged offence.

“That I was arrested yesterday shows the police are trying to intimidate people from taking to the streets.”

Cheng’s party Civil Passion said in a Facebook message posted on Saturday morning that he was still being detained, adding his office in Tsing Yi had been vandalised.

Day of defiance: Hong Kong police fire tear gas at protesters outside government headquarters

Police swooped again on Saturday to arrest two teenagers, a male and a female, aged 16 and 19, and a 30-year-old man on suspicion of possessing offensive weapons in Kwun Tong at 5.30am.

The force said they seized a 20cm knife, and other deadly weapons. The trio were being detained for investigation, a police spokesman said on Saturday afternoon.

He said officers became suspicious when patrolling Fu Tung Estate and Yau Tong Estate in Kwun Tong.

On Saturday morning, Hong Kong’s railway operator the MTR Corporation said it would close Sai Ying Pun station at 1.30pm until further notice “as a prudent measure” on Saturday afternoon.

Sai Ying Pun Station, on the western Island line, is close to the central government’s liaison office, which was the planned destination of the banned Civil Human Rights Front march to mark the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s announcement of a restrictive electoral reform package, that was eventually rejected by Hong Kong.

Responding to the arrests, a commentary published on a social media account of Chinese state media said they were “good news” for Hong Kong.

Referring to Wong and Chow’s case, People’s Daily wrote on Saturday: “As to how the judge in Hong Kong will make the ruling, we expect that they can give an answer that is satisfactory to all Chinese.

“We can say that Hong Kong has entered a critical moment to stop the violence. We should examine all measures that can be used to stop violence.”

In a separate comment piece ahead of Saturday’s protests, the Communist Party mouthpiece also warned that Beijing had the power to quell any unrest that cannot be contained by the Hong Kong government.

“If someone thinks they are clever and believes that escalating violence will force the central government to make concessions on principle issues, they are just overrating their ability, like an ant trying to shake a tree,” it said.

“If there is turmoil in Hong Kong that cannot be controlled by the SAR [special administrative region] government, the central government will never sit idly by.”

Based on the Basic Law, which is Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the central government had sufficient powers to quickly quell all kinds of unrest that might occur, it said.

The commentary added that making compromise now would only incite more violence, and resolutely saying no to violence was the bottom line of the rule of law and the consensus of civilised society.

Another People’s Daily analysis published on Saturday described “radical groups” in Hong Kong as terrorist organisations.

“Such acts have exposed its terrorist nature, and should not be tolerated in any normal nation and region. They should be cracked down resolutely,” it said.