HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong anti-government protesters marched through Christmas-decorated shopping centers on Wednesday, chanting pro-democracy slogans and forcing one mall to close early, as police fired tear gas to disperse crowds gathering on nearby streets.
The protests have turned more confrontational over the festive season, though earlier in December they had been largely peaceful after pro-democracy candidates overwhelmingly won district council elections.
Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leaders have made no concessions to the protesters, despite acknowledging their defeat in November’s council elections.
“Confrontation is expected, it doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas,” said Chan, a 28-year-old restaurant worker who was part of a crowd which exchanged insults with police outside a shopping center in the Mong Kok district.
“I’m disappointed the government still didn’t respond to any of our … demands. We continue to come out even if we don’t have much hope,” said Chan, who only gave his surname.
Riot police patrolled past protest hotspots while tourists and shoppers, many wearing Santa hats or reindeer antlers, strolled past.
There were no major clashes, but with impromptu crowds forming to shout abuse at the deeply unpopular officers, who have been accused of using excessive force, police briefly fired tear gas in Mong Kok, a popular protest area.
Police say their reaction to the unrest has been restrained.
Hundreds of protesters, dressed in black and wearing face masks, descended on shopping malls around the Chinese-ruled city, shouting popular slogans such as “Liberate Hong Kong! Revolution of our times!”
Police arrested several people in a shopping mall in the Sha Tin district after pepper-spraying them. The mall closed early, with staff directing customers to leave. Other shopping centers remained open.
Baton-wielding police fired tear gas on Tuesday at thousands of protesters who barricaded roads, spray-painted slogans on buildings and trashed a Starbucks cafe and an HSBC branch. A water cannon truck, flanked by armored jeeps, roamed the streets, but was not heavily used.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that many members of the public and tourists were disappointed that their “Christmas Eve celebrations have been ruined”.
“Such illegal acts have not only dampened the festive mood but also adversely affected local businesses,” she said.
INJURED OVERNIGHT
The Hospital Authority said 25 people had been injured overnight, including one man who fell from the second to first floor of a shopping mall as he tried to escape the police.
HSBC has become embroiled in a controversy involving a police crackdown this month on a fund-raising platform supporting protesters. HSBC denied any connection between the crackdown and its closure of a bank account linked to the group, but remains the target of protester rage.
Starbucks has also become a target of the demonstrators’ anger after the daughter of the founder of Maxim’s Caterers, which owns the local franchise, publicly condemned the protesters.
The protests started more than six months ago against a now-withdrawn bill which would have allowed extraditions to mainland China where courts are controlled by the Communist Party.
They have since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement, with demonstrators angry at what they perceive as increased meddling by Beijing in the freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
China denies interfering, saying it is committed to the “one country, two systems” formula put in place at that time and blaming foreign forces for fomenting unrest.
Reporting by Donny Kwok, Lucy Nicholson. Additional reporting by Mari Saito, Ronn Bautista, Felix Tam and Twinnie Siu; Writing by Marius Zaharia,; Editing by Gareth Jones and Ed Osmond
Image: A man tries to evade police at Yuen Long mall in Hong Kong, China December 24, 2019 in this still image taken from the social media video. Courtesy of HKUST RADIO NEWS REPORTING TEAM/via REUTERS
