Hong Kong marchers viciously assaulted
ANGER soared in Hong Kong on Monday over a v icious assau lt on pro-democracy protesters by suspected triad gangsters that left dozens wounded, a dramatic escalat ion of t he pol it ica l t urmoil plag uing t he Chinese cit y.
The financial hub’s roiling unrest took a dark turn late on Sunday when gangs of men – most wearing white T-shirts and carrying bats, sticks and metal poles – set upon anti-government demonstrators as they returned from another huge march earlier that day.
Footage broadcast live on Facebook showed people screaming as the men beat multiple protesters and journalists in Yuen Long station and inside subway trains, leaving pools of blood on the floor.
Hospital authorities said 45 people were wounded in the attack, with one man in critical condition and five others with serious injuries.
Critics rounded on the city’s embattled police force, accusing officers of taking more than an hour to reach the site and failing to arrest the armed assailants who stayed in the streets around the station into Monday morning.
Some men in white shirts were later filmed leaving the scene in cars with Chinese mainland number plates.
Lam Cheuk-ting, a prodemocracy lawmaker, was one of those wounded in the melee, sustaining lacerations to his face and arms.
He criticised police for their response and accused “triad members” of being behind the attacks.
“Their very barbaric and violent acts have already completely v i ol at ed t he bottom line of Hong Kong’s civilised society,” he told reporters early on Monday.
Furious fellow pro-democracy lawmakers held a press conference on Monday in which they accused the city’s pro-Beijing leaders of turning a blind eye t o the attacks.
“This triad gang is beating up Hong Kong people,” fumed legislator Alvin Yeung. “Yet you pretend nothing happened?”
City police chief Stephen Lo defended his force, saying his officers were busy dealing with violent anti-government protests elsewhere.
“Definitely our manpower is stretched,” he told reporters, describing any suggestion police colluded with triads as a “smear” and adding his officers would pursue the attackers.
The clashes have ratcheted up concern that the city’s feared triad gangs are wading into the political conflict.
Yuen Long lies in the New Territories near the Chinese border, where the criminal gangs and staunchly pro
remain influential.
Similar assaults by pro-government vigilantes against demonstrators during the 2014 “Umbrella Movement” protests were blamed on triads.
On Monday a f t e r noon, masked protesters t ra shed t he of f ice of staunch pro-Beiji ng law ma ker Ju n ius Ho, who wa s f i l med s ha k i ng ha nd s w it h wh ite-s h i r t e d men i n Yuen L ong shor t ly before Sunday’s v iolence.
China office targeted
Hon g K o n g h a s b e e n plunged into its worst crisis in recent histor y by weeks of marches and sporadic violent c o n f r o n t a t i o n s b e t w e e n police a nd pockets of hardcore protesters.
The i nit ia l protest s were sparked by a now-suspended bill that would have a llowed e x t r ad it ion s to ma i n l a nd China, but t hey have si nce evolved into a wider movement ca lling for democratic refor ms, universa l su f f rage and a halt to sliding freedoms i n t he s emi-autonomou s territor y.
The cit y’s pa rlia ment was t rashed by protesters ea rl ier t h i s mont h , a s B e i j i n g ’s aut horit y faces its most ser iou s cha l lenge si nc e Hong K o n g w a s h a n d e d b a c k to China in 1997.
As the mob rampage unfolded in Yuen Long police were s i mu l t a n e o u s l y b a t t l i n g hardcore pro-democracy protesters i n t he middle of t he cit y’s commercial district.
Riot of f icers f ired tea r gas and rubber bullets at protesters, hours after China’s Hong Kong L i a i s on Of f ic e wa s daubed wit h eggs a nd g ra ff it i in a v iv id rebuke to Beijing’s r ule.
Wang Zhimin, the head of the office, blasted the protesters on Monday, say ing t hey had i nsu lte d “a l l Ch i nese people” as he ca lled on Hong Kong’s government to pursue t he “rioters”.
Hong Kong’s leader Carrie La m condem ned bot h t he targeting of the Liaison Office a nd t he pr o -gov e r n ment mobsters say ing t he scenes “outraged t he whole cit y”.
“We absolutely do not condone t hose sor t of v iolent acts,” she told reporters.
Earlier on Sunday, another peaceful anti-government march had made its way through the city – the seventh weekend in a row that residents have come out en masse.
Yet the huge protests have done litt le to persuade Lam – or Beijing – to change tack on t he hub’s f uture.
Under t he 1997 ha ndover de a l w it h Br it a i n, C h i na promised to allow Hong Kong to keep key liberties such as its independent judiciar y and freedom of speech.
B u t m a n y s a y t h o s e prov isions are a lready being cur ta i led, cit i ng t he disappearance into mainland custody of dissident booksellers, t he disqua lif ication of prominent politicia ns and t he ja iling of pro-democracy protest leaders.
Authorities have also resisted calls for t he cit y’s leader to be d i rec t ly elec ted by t he people.
Protesters have vowed to keep t heir movement going until their core demands are met.