Hong Kong protesters adopt guerrilla tactics as violence spirals in streets
BLACK-CLAD protesters adopted guerrilla tactics as the protests in Hong Kong dragged into a 19th week, wreaking havoc by popping up in small groups in multiple locations yesterday.
Violence spiralled as protests stretched from afternoon into the night, with police struggling to restore order.
One police officer was stabbed in the neck by a protester in one of the worst acts of violence against the authorities during the five months of civil unrest. Two people were arrested at the scene and the officer was transferred to hospital “in a conscious state”, according to police.
Video broadcast on Hong Kong television also showed a masked protester dropping a riot officer with a flying high kick, followed by two other protesters who beat the officer on the ground and tried unsuccessfully to snatch his gun.
The tactics sought to maximise the disruption and visibility of protests at a time when anti-government demonstrations have, as a whole, been showing signs of flagging. Pressure from a government ban on the face masks worn by many protesters and extreme violence earlier this month appear to have cooled the ardour of some demonstrators and whittled protest numbers.
Online calls for gatherings to start at 2pm in dozens of malls, parks and sports grounds triggered an afternoon of mayhem and marked a shift from more concentrated rallies in fewer spots.
“We’re going to be more fluid and flexible,” said Amanda Sin (23), an office worker who joined a peaceful protest outside the police headquarters. “We are interchanging different tactics.”
Roaming bands of hardcore protesters – too numerous, elusive and fast-moving to be policed – popped up out of nowhere, vandalising stores, blocking traffic with makeshift barricades and spraying protest graffiti, often holding up umbrellas to shield their activities from view.
Masked protesters wielding hammers wrecked a Huawei store that was apparently targeted because of the brand’s links to mainland China. On another store broken into and trashed, protesters sprayed the words: “We are not stealing.”
Changing strategies to adapt to shifting circumstances is a notion deeply engrained in Chinese thinking, notably detailed in the ancient military treatise ‘The Art of War’.
In Hong Kong, protesters speak of being “like water”, fluid and adaptable.
Before dawn yesterday, protesters also clambered up a 500m peak and erected a large statue of a demonstrator in a gas mask, dubbed ‘The Lady Liberty of Hong Kong’, that gazed over the city.
One police officer was stabbed in the neck by a protester