Anthem Singers Thrown Out Of Mall, Get Police Lift

A group of people waving Chinese flags and singing the national anthem were ordered by security guards to leave a mall in Tsim Sha Tsui on Wednesday, with police arriving to separate them from a rival crowd.

The pro-Beijing group held up posters backing the Hong Kong police and chanted slogans in support of the mainland.

But their rendition of the March of the Volunteers was met by boos from some of the other people in Harbour City.

When the dozens of anthem singers went outside the mall as instructed, quarrels developed with opponents who criticised the police for their response to anti-government protests.

Police officers separated the two sides on Canton Road by forming a human chain.

Officers later drove the Beijing supporters away from the area in police vans and other vehicles.

Over the weekend, violent clashes erupted between pro-China groups and anti-government protesters in other parts of the city.