|
Riot police stormed several shopping malls packed with families
and children on Sunday, following one of the worst days of
violence in weeks as police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and a
water cannon at crowds of black-clad demonstrators across the
Chinese-ruled financial hub on Saturday.
In one bloody incident outside a mall in the eastern suburb of
Taikoo Shing on Sunday, a man with a knife slashed several
people and bit off part of a politician's ear.
The wounded included a man believed to be the knife-wielder,
whom protesters had beaten with sticks. Police said they
arrested three men involved, including the suspected 48-year old
assailant.
The city's Hospital Authority told Reuters one person was in a
critical condition, with two others serious, among a total of 30
injuries from Sunday alone. Local media reported a
life-threatening injury was sustained by a male student who fell
from a height, but details of the incident remained unclear.
The head of the boy's university called on authorities to
investigate the matter in a heated dialogue with students on
Monday evening.
Twelve police officers were also injured during weekend clashes,
with more than 300 people ranging from 14 to 54 years of age
arrested between Friday and Sunday, police said.
While Hong Kong and its many businesses function normally during
the week, many protests have sprung up spontaneously at weekends
over the past five months.
Pro-democracy protesters are campaigning against what they see
as Chinese meddling with the freedoms promised when the former
British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. China denies
doing so, and has blamed Western countries for stirring up
trouble.
Chinese state media called on Monday for a tougher line against
the protesters who vandalized the local offices of state-run
Xinhua news agency and other buildings, saying the violence
damaged the city's rule of law.
More demonstrations are planned this week as the protesters keep
up pressure for demands that include an independent inquiry into
police behavior and universal suffrage.
"We really see that people are very heavy-hearted. They don't
know what is going to happen tonight or maybe the next weekend.
And there is a lot of worry," pro-democracy lawmaker Charles Mok
told Reuters.
'V FOR VENDETTA'
Protesters have circulated plans on social media to mark Guy
Fawkes Day on Tuesday by putting on now-banned face masks in
areas around Hong Kong.
Many people taking to the streets in recent weeks have worn the
white, smiling Guy Fawkes masks made popular by
anti-establishment hackers and by the film "V for Vendetta".
The masks have also become common at protests globally,
including in Britain and across the United States.
Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam invoked colonial-era
emergency powers last month for the first time in more than 50
years, banning face masks in a move to quell the protests.
Protesters have largely ignored the ruling and worn masks.
The protests have divided Hong Kong and undermined its economy,
with the police coming in for particular scrutiny.
Police canceled a planned press conference on Monday after
several journalists from the public broadcaster and other local
media turned up wearing helmets with signs that said
"investigate police brutality" and "stop police lies", and then
refused to leave when asked by officials.
"We are not protesting...We are just using our clothes...to urge
the police to change and stop the violence against the
journalists," said Ronson Chan of online news site The Stand
News. Police said the journalists' actions were "disrespectful"
and "deprived the public of access to important information".
Local media associations have condemned what they describe as a
heavy-handed approach by the police toward journalists, while
officers have said they are responding to an escalating cycle of
violence in five months of protests.
Protesters smashed doors and windows and threw petrol bombs at
Xinhua's office on Saturday in some of the worst violence in
weeks. They also set fire to metro stations and vandalized
buildings, including an outlet of U.S. coffee chain Starbucks.
The city's Foreign Correspondents' Club expressed grave concern
at the attack on Xinhua, stating that news organizations and
journalists must be able to work in Hong Kong free from fear of
attack and intimidation.
Mainland businesses, including banks or companies seen as
supportive of China's ruling Communist Party, have often been
targeted by protesters.
Police said the protests have been a "man-made disaster" for the
city with some 45 kilometers (28 miles) of roadside railings
dismantled, and 145 rail stations vandalized.
"Rioters' destructive acts serve no other purpose than to vent
their anger at grievances real and imagined," said Chief
Superintendent Tse Chun-chung on Monday.
"Continuing this rampage is a lose-lose situation for Hong Kong.
Everyone is a loser. Please don’t let violence take over our
daily life. Everyone deserves freedom from fear."
(Reporting by Donny Kwok, Twinnie Siu, Joyce Zhou, Jiraporn
Kuhakan, Jessie Pang and Anne Marie Roantree; Writing by Farah
Master and John Geddie; Editing by Paul Tait, Himani Sarkar and
Alex Richardson)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
