Chinese state media deleted a tweet Thursday claiming Hong Kong's government was to announce a weekend curfew, after some of the worst violence in months of pro-democracy unrest.
The tweet from the fiercely nationalistic Global Times was live for little over half an hour before it vanished.
"#HKSAR government is expected to announce curfew for weekend," the paper said in a post in English on its verified Twitter account.
The tabloid had cited unnamed sources in the tweet, which was quickly deleted.
The editor of the Global Times, Hu Xijin, later tweeted that he had asked for it to be deleted because the sourcing was "not sufficient".
"I just checked how the information was obtained. My conclusion is that the information is not sufficient to support this exclusive news," Hu tweeted shortly after the original tweet was removed.
Hong Kong Police spokesman John Tse said he was not in a position to comment on rumours of a curfew, because the decision rested with the territory's chief executive, Carrie Lam.
"We welcome any new measures that can help us to achieve the goal of restoring the public safety and order in Hong Kong," he said.
Tse said the police would welcome assistance from other "disciplined services forces" or "any measures to boost our manpower".
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