Thousands of masked protesters descended on a Hong Kong satellite town, vandalizing a mall and rail stations. Clashes with police ensued in nearby streets where police used tear gas and activists set barricades on fire.

The action in Sha Tin, a neighborhood in Hong Kong’s New Territories, on Sunday followed the template set on the previous day in Tuen Mun, another satellite town. Most of the heat was in the streets, where the activists, who have been waging a 16-week-long campaign against the government in Beijing, erected barricades and set them on fire. Hong Kong police responded with force, deploying tear gas and dispersing the crowds.

Hong Kong protesters and riot police clash in the Sha Tin neighborhood.Protesters set barricades on fire, hurling bricks at the police. Police in turn arrest the protesters and use guns loaded with non-lethal rounds #香港#HongKongProtests#沙田pic.twitter.com/C1Yuj23ts4 — Bloomberg TicToc (@tictoc) September 22, 2019

However, the focus of the protest was in Sha Tin’s New Town Plaza, a shopping mall, which was occupied by thousands of protesters on Sunday.

Thousands of people are protesting in Sha Tin New Town Plaza. #HongKongProtestspic.twitter.com/Tp6FIH0vDv — Lea Li (@Lealokkk) September 22, 2019

Some of their actions were peaceful. They chanted anti-government slogans, played protest songs, and built an art object from paper cranes with a politically loaded name.

Others were clear attempts to intimidate business owners they see as allied with the central government in Beijing.

Restaurants owned by pro-CCP owners (in all cases, tycoons & conglomerates, not small businesses) plastered with stickers identifying them as such at New Town Plaza, Shatin. pic.twitter.com/o2hkkz7cLi — Kong Tsung-gan / 江松澗 (@KongTsungGan) September 22, 2019

Protesters also expressed their disdain for China by targeting the national flag in a sort of merry-go-round game. The flag was snatched earlier from the Shia Tin town hall.

How protesters in Sha Tin New Town Plaza are having fun on Chinese national flag. Vid from Telegram. pic.twitter.com/DtQQYm01nB — Xinqi Su (@XinqiSu) September 22, 2019

There was also vandalism, as the more radical activists smashed CCTV cameras, painted anti-government graffiti, and tore down metal barriers and wall panels they wanted to take out and use for barricades.

Sha Tin shopping centre is being trashed. #HongKongpic.twitter.com/c2wiTxMBz6 — Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) September 22, 2019

Suffice it to say, when the demonstration was over, plenty of work was left behind for janitors.

Another Sha Tin mall, the luxurious Elements, saw a smaller invasion later on Sunday. In addition, three stations of the Hong Kong light rail system in the neighborhood were vandalized, while trains had to be stopped on one of the two lines passing through Sha Tin after demonstrators reportedly put an emergency ramp on the railway.

Protesters in Sha Tin MTR station are destroying ticket machines using hammers.Video: SCMP/Simone McCarthy pic.twitter.com/ejoINHiEMH — SCMP Hong Kong (@SCMPHongKong) September 22, 2019

The protesters see the operator of the transit system, MTP Corporation, as collaborating with Beijing.

#HongKong Thread: Protesters have spray-painted the derogatory term "the Party's subway" on a footbridge outside exit A of Tsing Yi MTR station, in reference to the Chinese Communist Party and Hong Kong's rail giant pic.twitter.com/KYffjdiVRA — IndoPacific_SCS_Info (@IndoPac_Info) September 22, 2019

The protests in Hong Kong, a former British colony, erupted over a draft extradition bill, which the protesters saw as an infringement on the “one country, two systems” arrangement that gives the city extensive autonomy under Chinese sovereignty. The bill has since been scrapped, but it did little to satisfy the protesters, who came up with more demands and called on the former colonial ruler, as well as the US, to intervene on their behalf.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!