Hong Kong
Police use pepper spray during clashes with pro-democracy protesters close to the chief executive office in Hong Kong, November 30, 2014.Reuters

Pro-democracy protestors returned outside government headquarters on Sunday night, days after the police had cleared most protest areas and arrested more than 100 people last week.

Helmet-clad protesters attempted to storm into the Admiralty compound on the call of student leaders who have been at the forefront of the movement.

Police used water cannons and resorted to baton-charging and pepper-spraying to quell protests, and several were left injured, many suffering injuries to their heads. About 40 arrests were made.

Protesters attempted to storm Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's office in what is said to be a more aggressive demonstration than seen before, on the direction of the Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism, the two student bodies that are leading the movement.

Protesters have been demanding democratic elections after the Chinese government made a decision in August that all candidates for the 2017 elections should be approved by a special committee, which protestors claim comprises only pro-Beijing members.