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Athena Chan

Kanis Leung

Yuen Long residents stockpiled food on Friday, with some even leaving Hong Kong altogether, to brace for potential clashes at protests against mob violence at the district’s subway station a week earlier.
Fears heightened locally as police expected as many as 100,000 people to march on Saturday to denounce Sunday’s violence, even though police objected to three rallies, citing safety concerns.
Shops and public sports facilities were expected to close early while betting shops, a blood donation centre and health care centre were set to suspend services.
Some of the glass doors of a building in Nam Pin Wai, near Yuen Long MTR station, were covered by wooden boards.

The village was believed to be home to some of the more than 100 white-clad men who beat up travellers in the station last Sunday, some of whose victims had come from a march against the government’s now-suspended extradition bill.
At least 45 people were injured. Some of the 12 people arrested were linked with triad gangs.
A village resident in her 40s, who only identified herself as Mrs Wong, had decided to leave the city with her family for a three-day trip to Shenzhen on Friday, saying she did not want to get involved in the chaos.
She said she was more worried by the influx of protesters than by the villagers.




“We are not scared of the villagers. They are very nice and peaceful,” she said. “It’s the others – too extreme.”
Another Yuen Long resident, Fanny Leung, 38, planned to stay at home due to the protests. She said she has stocked up on food for her family.
Yuen Long district councillor Mak Ip-sing said some residents, particularly those who lived in the villages, were concerned about the protests.
But he said some other residents were not as bothered.
Of course we are scared! We don’t know how chaotic it will be tomorrow afternoon
Mrs Lau, fishmonger
“I believe they are peaceful and will not cause trouble in rural villages, as rumours have suggested. So I think it’s not that serious,” he said.
He said residents had not fenced off their homes or their villages, but some government officers has glued bricks down in the streets.
Some vendors at Tung Yick Market, in the heart of the town, planned to close early on Saturday.

“Of course we are scared! We don’t know how chaotic it will be tomorrow afternoon,” Mrs Lau, who sells fish at the wet market, said. “What if our stall opens and the people on the street tomorrow destroy it?”
She said the stall would usually stock about 300 catties, or 180kg, of fish, but the owner would only prepare half that amount for the protest day.
But vegetable stall owner Mrs Wong was at ease. She said that, thanks to the rumours of trouble, she could increase the price of Chinese cabbage from HK$14 (US$1.80) per catty to HK$16.
Police anger after Hong Kong No 2 says sorry for Yuen Long attack response
“Hongkongers are like this. As long as they hear rumours, they believe them,” she said.
She said her sales were up 20 per cent because residents feared clashes and bought more food for the next two or three days in advance.
Elsewhere in the city, sports shops selling skating helmets and hiking poles recorded an uptick in sales.
At Decathlon in Causeway Bay, shelves of hiking poles priced between HK$64 and HK$199 were cleared.
Staff said the sudden demand for the poles and helmets started last week. But they were reluctant to say whether it was related to the protest, only saying that: “I don't know. But maybe they just love skating.”
Additional reporting by Mark Agnew


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Safety measures and stockpiled food as Yuen Long braces for march over Hong Kong violence

Nam Pin Wai was believed to be home to some of the men involved in Sunday’s attack. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

A notice from a market store in Yuen Long, announcing their closure tomorrow, ahead of tomorrows protest against the mob attack in Yuen Long. 26JUL19 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

Windows boarded up at the Nam Pin Wai village assembly hall, Yuen Long, ahead of tomorrows protest against the mob attack in Yuen Long. 26JUL19 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

As it happened: bloody clashes and tear gas fired as Hong Kong protesters descend on Yuen Long

Protesters let off fire extinguishers inside Yuen Long MTR station. Photo: Sam Tsang

Police anger after Hong Kong No 2 Matthew Cheung says sorry for Yuen Long attack response

During Sunday’s violence, armed men attacked protesters and others at Yuen Long subway station. Photo: Facebook

(L-R) Stella Lee Yim-fong, assistant commissioner for transport; Lau Kong-wah, Secretary for Home Affairs; Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Chief Secretary for Administration; and Deputy Director of Social Welfare (Services), Lam Ka-tai at a press conference on cancer strategy, Central Government Offices, Tamar. 26JUL19 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

Police officers post photos online to protest against Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chungÕs public apology over the forceÕs handling of the violenct attacks in Yuen Long on July 21.Photo: Facebook

Worrying new fallout as Hong Kong police decry No 2 official Matthew Cheung’s apology for handling of Yuen Long mob violence, ahead of illegal march that could draw 100,000 protesters

Men in white T-shirts carrying wooden sticks and metal poles in Yuen Long on the night a mob attacked demonstrators and bystanders at the train station. Photo: Reuters

(L-R) Lau Kong-wah, Secretary for Home Affairs; Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Chief Secretary for Administration; and Deputy Director of Social Welfare (Services), Lam Ka-tai, meets the press at the Central Government Offices, Tamar. 26JUL19 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

Travellers watch from above, as anti-extradition bill protestors sit in at the arrival hall of the Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok. 26JUL19 SCMP / Winson Wong

Yuen Long violence exposes the turf mentality of Hong Kong’s walled villages

A woman pushes a buggy through the walled village of Sheung Cheung Wai in the Yuen Long district of the New Territories. From the attack on protesters and train passengers in Yuen Long station, it is evident that the villagers maintain a turf mentality that hasn’t changed much since the 19th century. Photo: Bloomberg

Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong hits out at accusations it was behind Yuen Long attacks, calling them ‘malicious rumours’

Beijing’s liaison office condemned as ‘malicious rumours’ accusations it was behind the attack by white-clad men on protesters and passers-by at Yuen Long station on Sunday night. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Water and metal barricades have been installed outside the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Sai Ying Pun. 26JUL19 SCMP / Edmond So

(190723) -- HONG KONG, July 23, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Wang Zhimin, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), speaks when meeting the press in Hong Kong, south China, July 22, 2019. The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR will as always firmly fulfill its duties as empowered by the central government and support the HKSAR government in its effective administration in accordance with the law, Wang Zhimin said on Monday. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

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Shops and market stalls look set to close early ahead of march against mob attack that hit subway station last week
Fearing more clashes, some local residents are leaving the city for the weekend


Shops and market stalls look set to close early ahead of march against mob attack that hit subway station last week. Fearing more clashes, some local residents are leaving the city for the weekend.


Hong Kong protests

Safety measures and stockpiled food as Yuen Long braces for march over Hong Kong violence

Shops and market stalls look set to close early ahead of march against mob attack that hit subway station last week Fearing more clashes, some local residents are leaving the city for the weekend

Shops and market stalls look set to close early ahead of march against mob attack that hit subway station last week

Fearing more clashes, some local residents are leaving the city for the weekend