TENSIONS remained high in Hong Kong today as masked protesters surrounded schools to block students from entering after demanding intervention from Donald Trump amid the weekend’s violence.

It was the second week that universities and schools were targeted, with China previously warning against the intimidation of children and comes as news that tourism to Hong Kong fell by 40 per cent compared with last year.

Last year, Hong Kong was one of the world’s most visited cities, with 30 million tourists.

But the scale of the drop indicates the potential economic cost after the city has been rocked by three months of violent protest co-ordinated by US-backed groups.

Despite Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam confirming that the extradition Bill that sparked the demonstrations had been scrapped, the protests show no sign of abating.

The Bill would have allowed for Hong Kong to extradite those to face trial in countries where they were alleged to have committed serious crimes. 

But anti-China campaigners seized on the opportunity and launched protests that soon turned violent, with rioters attacking the police and government buildings.

Protests have been led by those with extensive links to the US, including the Demosisto party, which is funded by the nefarious National Endowment for Democracy (NED) which is pressing for regime change across the globe.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan warned today that in some areas hotel occupancy levels had dropped by more than half and house prices as much as 70 per cent.

“The retail and even the catering industry are similar. The most worrying thing is that the road ahead does not seem to be easy to get better,” he said.

Economists fear that the events in Hong Kong, coupled with the US trade war on China, could push the economy into recession later this year.