Hong Kong protesters channel Catalan spirit as they march for independence while testing limits of ban that saw separatist party in the city outlawed

Rival protesters clash before march in support of banned Hong Kong National Party, while officers from Organised Crime and Triad Bureau record every word and say they’ll take action retrospectively if necessary

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Police officers film pro-independence marchers carrying the Catalan flag. Photo: Alvin Lum

Published: 2:18pm, 1 Oct 2018Updated: 1:42pm, 3 Oct 2018

A week after the Hong Kong National Party was outlawed on the grounds of national security, activists were not afraid to test the limits of the ban, waving the Catalonian flag and banners calling for independence during a protest march on Monday.

Chanting “Hong Kong is not China”, a 30-strong group marched on government headquarters, carrying the flag of the Spanish region a year after its referendum on independence.

The move came as police officers from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau monitored every word and movement by independence activists during the march to Admiralty.

Members from various pro-democratic groups protests on National Day in Causeway Bay. Photo: Edmond So

Before the protest, a police source said officers would be focusing on any mention of support for the Hong Kong National Party, the separatist group banned by the Security Bureau last week on the grounds it posed a threat to national security and public order.

But, activists had said they expected to be watched, and avoided explicitly spelling out their support for the group.

Chris Chow Chi-kit, a member of Studentlocalism, said the Catalan flags were a reference to the shared situation in which both autonomous regions found themselves.