Protesters Defy Warnings, Spread Chaos Across HK

A day after Chief Executive Carrie Lam warned of action to stop violence, Hong Kong witnessed a night of chaos as police and protesters engaged in a cat-and-mouse chase across the city as anti-extradition campaigners again used what they call "be water" tactics to stage hit-and-run raids.

The action started on Saturday afternoon, with more than a thousand people staging a peaceful march through Tai Po in defiance of a police ban on the event.

Some went to the Tai Po police station where there was a brief stand-off with riot police. But soon after, they left for Tai Wai, while some went to the New Town Plaza mall in Shatin. In Tai Wai, police fired tear gas and the crowd fled.

Some of the later protests were clearly completely unplanned. RTHK reporters even heard some of the demonstrators discussing among themselves on the spot where they should go next.

And at around 7pm, in another flash mob protest, some people arrived at the Kowloon entrance of the Cross Harbour Tunnel and blocked it. They placed objects putting traffic cones, rubbish bins and metal barriers against the gates to stop traffic.

Tsim Sha Tsui became the next flashpoint, where tension mounted after a group of riot police pinned down a young woman on Nathan Road. Witnesses said was just a passerby and was not a protester.

The crowd grew angry and surrounded a police van in which the woman was being taken away, but they retreated after officers fired rounds of tear gas on the busy tourist street.

At around 10.30pm, the MTR Corporation announced that trains would not stop at Tsim Sha Tsui or Jordan stations. Special trains were dispatched to the two stations to pick passengers up.

Elsewhere, protesters set up roadblocks on Waterloo Road near the Kowloon Tong MTR station, as well as in Tsuen Wan and in Kwun Tong. They left the scene almost immediately, leaving police officers who arrived too late with the task of clearing the debris.

A small number of arrests were also reported in Whampoa and in Tseung Kwan O, where residents took part in an impromptu paper-burning protest.

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