Hong Kong has been gripped by another night of violence after a peaceful afternoon march in Tai Po splintered into several fronts as protesters attempted to outrun the police.

Riot police fired teargas at crowds in the neighbouring districts of Shatin and Tai Wai on Saturday night in an attempt to disperse black-clad protesters who had barricaded roads with nearby supplies.

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Several kilometres away, riot police also used teargas on crowds in the tourist district of Tsim Sha Tsui, while across the city at Hong Kong International airport a peaceful sit-in continued into its second day.

The majority of protesters, however, appeared to be mobile on Saturday night, with thousands dispersing across the New Territories and Kowloon after receiving reports of police movements on messaging apps.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protesters gather behind a makeshift barrier in Tai Po. Photograph: Chan Long Hei/EPA

“The strategy is, when the police come we will leave and change to a different place,” said Michael Wong, a nursing student and volunteer medic. “When the police come to a different place they need to plan and have a reaction time, so we use [it] to just buy time.”

The cat and mouse game, often referred to by the slogan “be water”, has made recent protests less predictable than at the beginning of June when anti-government demonstrations began against a legislative bill that many feared was an attack on Hong Kong’s civil and political rights.

“Everyone is the frontline. You can decide what you are going to do,” said one protester who asked to not be named for fear of repercussions. “[Some] are going to Shatin or the airport, but you can decide what to do.”

As protests enter their 10th week, Hong Kong appears to be facing its worst political crisis since its return to Chinese rule in 1997 as the government fails to respond to intense public anger at the legislative bill and heavy-handed police tactics.

Protests have become an almost daily occurrence across the city, with large-scale demonstrations reserved for the weekend.

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Much of the anger sustaining the protests appears to come from longstanding fears about the future of Hong Kong under Chinese rule, and the government’s inability to understand or act on the desires of many of its residents after the failure of 2014’s democracy protests.

Over the past five years, the government appears to have moved increasingly closer to Beijing although Hong Kong was promised semi-autonomy until 2047.

One protester, Alice Chan, said she regarded Carrie Lam’s failure as Hong Kong’s leader to respond to protest demands, which have remained much the same for 10 weeks, as a sign of Chinese interference. Lam has not withdrawn the legislative bill, which would have allowed for criminal suspects to be deported to stand trial in mainland Chinese courts, although she has pledged it is suspended.

“I think they just want to hear and do what the Beijing government wants them to do,” Chan said. “It’s not what Hong Kong people want them to do. It’s the difference since the umbrella revolution.”

Mistrust in the Hong Kong government and its autonomy, which is protected by the “one country, two systems” agreement, has led to many protesters calling for direct elections for the first time since 2014.