Arrests were made and pepper spray used as another heated anti-parallel trader protest occurred on Sunday in the New Territories.
Police confirmed that six men were arrested for offences including disorder in a public place, assaulting a police officer, obstructing police and common assault.
The march comes after similar protests last week in Tuen Mun, where police used pepper spray and two protesters were arrested amid the chaos.
HK Indigenous, one of the activist groups that co-organised last week’s rally, this time mobbed the New Town Plaza in Sha Tin, a popular destination for Chinese shoppers.
Crowds gathered inside the mall holding up banners and slogans, such as “be patriotic and use Chinese goods”.
Clashes between the police and protesters occurred once the crowd entered the confined Gold section of the shopping mall, with profanities exchanged as the atmosphere heated. Anti-police slogans, including the common “black police”, were chanted as officers further attempted to cordon off the main walkway.
The Colonial flag was flown while some protesters chanted “Hong Kong independence”. One protester raised a self-made red banner, a satire of the pepper spray warnings used by the Police, which read “Rid the Barbarians”.
“An independence movement has commenced, and now we are advocating for a Hong Kong nation”, said the man holding the banner. “We will take back what is ours, rid the [Chinese], and re-establish a Hong Kong city-state. Parallel traders are smugglers and they are breaking the laws of Hong Kong and China, and we are here to address this issue”, he added.
More minor clashes also broke out between protesters and Chinese shoppers. A pro-China man was surrounded and taunted by angry crowd after allegedly assaulting a protester.
One woman, who claimed she was not affected by parallel traders, called the protesters “rude and unruly”. Her comments were met by jeers from the demonstrators.
At around 5pm, the people began to disperse to other parts of the mall. A major clash occurred on the fourth floor, where a crowd surrounded a group of police officers and chanted “black police”. The police responded with force, using batons and pepper spray.
Pockets of anti-shopper clashes continued amid the process, with chants of “locusts” and “go back to China” heard.
Sean, who was present at the protest last weekend and interviewed by Coconuts, was among the crowd. “I’m not just interested in the people who are protesting but the response of the people around them”, he said. “If you look [at local residents] you can see there’s quite a bit of support”.
However, Sean said he does not “support people screaming at random shoppers”, saying it is “not necessarily constructive”.
While claiming he understands the pro-independent sentiment, Sean insists that it is not a “viable idea”. He however predicted the government will do nothing to ease the protesters’ concerns.
“If you send half as many police to Sheung Shui to get rid the smugglers [as there were at the march], there wouldn’t be a protest and people would support the government”, he commented.
Ms. Wong, 21, came from outside of the district to join the march, claiming to be disgruntled by rising living expenses and overcrowding due to the retail overheat. She said, “Police were pushing the crowds”, adding, “fists were used and people pushed to the ground”.
Hong Kong blogger Hermit was at the scene. “There [was] shouting here and there, and a person was on the ground”, he said.
Another blogger, Lost Dutch HK, also commented on his experience, saying he viewed the authorities as “intimidating”, and did not appreciate them taking photos of the crowd.
The protest spread outside the mall at around 7pm as demonstrators rushed onto the streets. Police appeared in large numbers and quickly cordoned off the major roads.
A young man was frisked for, as witnesses claim, taking pictures of officers at the scene.
As the evening wore on, normality gradually resumed as protesters continued to disperse from the streets.
Photos: Thomas Chan/Coconuts Media.
Additional reporting by Gary Ng.
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