Hong Kong: 'Demonstrators are the people's enemy,' says Carrie Lam

Hong Kong's embattled leader has said the violence has far exceeded the call for democracy and that demonstrators are now the "people's enemy".

Speaking on Monday, Carrie Lam said "rioters" were "relentlessly destroying society", adding that the former British colony had been put under strain because of extensive violence.

She said she wanted to tell protesters they "will not succeed in securing their demands", and appealed to everyone in the city to "stay calm" and refrain from taking part in any illegal activities as protesters took to the streets on Monday in an unusual week-day rally.

She spoke hours after a protester was shot by police and a man was set on fire as violence continues to escalate in Hong Kong.

Several injuries were also reported after a policeman appeared to deliberately ram his motorbike into a crowd of people during a citywide protest on Monday.

A man was shot as demonstrators blocked subway lines and roads during the morning commute in the eastern part of the island.

In a video posted on Facebook, the protester - dressed in a black lycra suit - approaches the police officer as he corners another protester.

The first protester was shot at close range and was later seen lying in a pool of blood. He is in a critical condition in hospital.

A witness told Reuters news agency that there had been "three sounds, like pam, pam, pam".

The Hospital Authority confirmed a 21-year-old man was admitted on Monday after being injured.

He was undergoing an operation, they said.

The area was cordoned off after the shooting and what looked like dried blood was still visible.

A third protester also approached and was fired at but police said they were not hit.

In the UK, Natalie Bennett, chair of the Westminster Friends of Hong Kong and former Green Party leader, condemned Hong Kong Police and said the UK should considering "targeted sanctions in response".

"The behaviour of the Hong Kong Police Force today marks a new low. Their actions are a clear breach of the rights protected by the handover agreement.

"The Hong Kong government are complicit because they are refusing to call an independent inquiry."

In Ma On Shan, in Hong Kong's Kowloon district, a man was set on fire following an apparent dispute over national identity in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

Graphic video footage posted online shows him arguing with a group of young people before a masked man wearing black pours a liquid over him and flicks open a lighter as the man quickly sets on fire while he tries to remove his t-shirt.

The man is also in a critical condition in hospital.

Other videos circulating on social media show a police officer driving at high speed through and around a group of protesters three time on a road in Kwai Fong, in Hong Kong's Kowloon district, in what appears to be an attempt to run them over.

At least two people were injured at the scene, according to Headline Daily, though the seriousness of the injuries was not made clear.

The officer has been suspended from frontline duties and put on mandatory leave, police spokesman Chief Superintendent John Tse said in a press conference.

He said another officer had temporarily lost his sight after protesters sprayed an unknown substance in his face and the motorcycle officer reacted by driving into the protesters.

"[The motorcyclist] tried to separate his colleagues and the rioters. According to the officer, he was attacked with hammers and punched while driving," Chief Superintendent Tse said.

The violence is the latest in protests which have lasted since June.

They began as a reaction to a now-abandoned bill that would have seen those suspected of crimes in Hong Kong facing extradition to China.

But over the past few months, the campaign has widened to encompass general anti-China feeling in the city, as residents fear their freedoms are being eroded.

Hong Kong retained those freedoms, which are not enjoyed by those on the Chinese mainland, after the former British colony was returned to China in 1997.

On 24 November, Hong Kong will hold district council elections which will be a guide as to how the government is seen.

But pro-democracy activists say the government is trying to provoke violence to give them an excuse to cancel or postpone the vote.