HONG KONG - Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, urged people to "love China, love Hong Kong and love yourself" on Friday in a bid to calm the city's escalating crisis as pop concerts and public events were cancelled in response to anti-government protests.

Li's message in front-page advertisements in major newspapers in the Asian financial hub urged the public to "cease the anger with love" and "stop the violence". The advertisements were signed "a Hong Kong citizen Li Ka-shing".

Ten weeks of confrontations between police and protesters have plunged Hong Kong into turmoil, and present the biggest popular challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.

The protests began as opposition to a now-suspended bill that would have allowed suspects to be extradited to mainland China and have swelled into wider calls for democracy.

Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula that promised wide-ranging freedoms denied to citizens in mainland China, but many in the city believe Beijing has been eroding those freedoms.

More mass demonstrations are expected through the weekend.

Police tactics against protesters have been hardening and Li, 91, warned that "the best cause can lead to the worst results".

Korean boy band GOT7, a member of whom sparked a social media firestorm this week with apparently pro-Beijing comments, on Friday cancelled shows scheduled in late August and early September citing the "social situation in Hong Kong".

Organizers of a wellness summit scheduled for October shifted it to Singapore. Economists have warned the protests could tip one of Asia's financial capitals into recession.

China has likened the increasingly violent protests to terrorism and warned it could use force to quell them, as U.S. President Donald Trump urged Xi meet protesters to defuse the tension. -Reuters