HK Cops Move To Confront Shopping Mall Clashes
Hong Kong Police moved in to break up scuffles on Saturday between pro-China protesters and those denouncing perceived Chinese meddling, in and around a shopping mall. Videos showed protesters at Amoy Plaza in the densely packed Kowloon district waving Chinese flags and chanting slogans. They chanted “Support the Police” and “China, add oil”, adapting a line used by anti-Hong Kong government protesters and loosely meaning: “China, keep your strength up”.
“Hong Kong is China,” one woman shouted at angry passers-by who shouted obscenities in return in an angry pushing and pulling standoff.
Clashes spill to streets
The clashes spilled out on to the streets, with each confrontation captured by dozens of media and onlookers on their smart phones. Police detained several people. Fights have begun breaking out with increased frequency after anti-government supporters began holding impromptu sing-alongs of a popular protest anthem - and as pro-Beijing supporters held rival gatherings to sing China’s national anthem.
In the district of Fortress Hill on Saturday, a group of men, many waving Chinese flags and wearing blue t-shirts declaring “I love HK Police”, attacked people perceived to be anti-government protesters.
Protests intensify
Multiple videos posted online showed the group of men assaulting largely younger victims with large flags on poles - and with punches and kicks - as terrified onlookers ran away.
Hong Kong Police did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.
Fortress Hill is next to North Point, an area of the city where similar mob attacks by government supporters have occurred this summer and which has long been a bastion of pro-Beijing sentiment.
Shortly before the assaults, the men were filmed tearing down post-it notes and posters on a nearby “Lennon Wall”, pro-democracy billboards which have sprung up across the city.
Within hours, the wall was back up as crowds put up new slogans and messages.
“It makes me so angry,” a 37-yearold local anti-government protester, who gave her first name as Ed, told AFP.
“These walls are a form of emotional support, it shows the movement is still alive. But even if they destroy it, we will just build it again.”
Protesters complaining about perceived Chinese meddling in the former British colony came out in their hundreds across the territory last Friday, singing and chanting on the Mid-Autumn Festival, in contrast to the violence of many previous weekends when Police have responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon.