Protesters smash metro station, mall amid anger
HONG KONG: Protesters smashed windows in a subway station and a shopping mall yesterday and police made arrests in areas across Hong Kong amid anger over a demonstrator’s death and the arrest of pro-democracy lawmakers.
Hong Kong is in the sixth month of protests that began in June over a proposed extradition law and have expanded to include demands for greater democracy and other grievances. Activists complain the government is eroding the autonomy and Western-style civil liberties promised when this former British colony returned to China in 1997.
Authorities closed the subway stop in the Sha Tin district in the northeast after protesters broke windows and damaged a ticket machine. Reporters saw police arrest three men at a residential complex elsewhere in Sha Tin but the reason wasn’t clear.
In Tuen Mun in the northwest, about three dozen people dressed in black, the symbolic colour of the protests, stormed through the Citywalk shopping mall. Most were peaceful but one used a club to smash windows while others overturned tables in a restaurant. Spectators on the street outside shouted “Cockroaches!’’ at police.
In Tsuen Wan in the west, police fired tear gas and took away four men and one woman suspected of vandalizing shops, the newspaper Apple
Daily reported.
Inside the Festival Walk shopping mall in Kowloon Tong, reporters saw a man lying on a public walkway beside a small pool of blood with police standing over him. His condition and the reason for possible injuries were unclear.
There were brief shoving matches between police and shoppers, some of whom thrust their fists into the air in a gesture of defiance. Police pointed cans of pepper spray at spectators and reporters.
Activists are demanding the resignation of the territory’s leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
The protests have added to downward pressure on Hong Kong’s economy. It already was struggling with declining global economic growth and the US-Chinese tariff war.
The territory of 7.5 million people tumbled into its first recession since the global financial crisis after economic activity shrank 3.2% in the quarter ending in September.
On Saturday, police announced the arrest of six lawmakers on charges of obstructing the local assembly during a raucous May 11 meeting over the extradition bill. All were freed on bail.
Meanwhile, protesters mourned the death on Friday of a university student, Chow Tsz-Lok, who fell from a parking garage when police fired tear gas at protesters.
The circumstances of the death are unclear, but many accuse police of using heavy-handed tactics.