Calm shattered as clashes break out in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, December 15

The Hong Kong police used pepper spray and made multiple arrests on Sunday as small groups of black-clad pro-democracy protesters targeted some of the city’s malls, ending a rare lull in violence.

Flashmob protests and vandalism broke out in multiple locations, prompting riot police to use pepper spray and make arrests in at least two shopping centres as members of the public heckled officers.

Earlier in the afternoon an elderly woman was knocked over in the same mall after a fight broke out when a shopper tried to stop protesters from spraying graffiti.

Masked activists had also trashed restaurants run by Maxim’s, a catering giant owned by a tycoon that has become a frequent target because his daughter has criticised the pro-democracy movement.

The skirmishes are the first to break out in three weeks.

Hong Kong has been upended by six months of massive pro-democracy protests that have seen violent battles between police and hardcore demonstrators, as well as regular transport disruption. The past month had seen a lull in the violence and vandalism after pro-democracy parties won a landslide in local council elections. Last Sunday an estimated 800,000 marched peacefully through the streets.

But public anger remains as Beijing and city leader Carrie Lam show no sign of giving further concessions despite the election success.

Lam is currently in Beijing for an annual visit and is set to meet President Xi Jinping on Monday. The protests were ignited by a now scrapped plan to allow extraditions to the authoritarian mainland but have since morphed into a revolt against Chinese rule.

Among the movement’s demands is an independent inquiry into the police and fully free elections. — AFP

Second bomb plot bid within a week

The police in Hong Kong said that they foiled a second bomb plot in under a week related to the ongoing anti-government protests after officers arrested three men allegedly testing home-made devices and chemicals in a secluded area. The suspects were testing the strength of remote-controlled devices, which were intended for use at mass protests, the police said on Saturday, but it was unclear which chemicals or explosives were involved as the bombs had been detonated. Acting on intelligence, officers from the organised crime and triad bureau ambushed the trio in Tuen Mun on Saturday morning as they carried out tests. IANS

Police face both love and anger

Several thousand people, some making heart signs with their hands, turned out in Hong Kong on Sunday in an unusual display of support for the police force, even as riot officers clashed elsewhere with protesters and pepper-sprayed a crowd. At one mall, a small group adapted a Christmas carol into a protest song and a woman played “Glory to Hong Kong,” a protest anthem, on a harmonica. AP