Hong Kong protests: peaceful pleas for United States’ support quickly descend into usual mayhem as tear gas fired and MTR station trashed and burned
- Thousands rally in city’s business district to march to American consulate calling for help from US President Donald Trump
- But radical faction breaks away setting fire to an entrance at Central MTR station before spreading chaos across Hong Kong Island and Kowloon
Thousands of protesters joined a peaceful march to the US consulate in Hong Kong on Sunday, urging American officials and politicians to support their cause by taking diplomatic action against the city’s government, while radicals broke away from the main rally to unleash chaos once again.
Smaller groups of protesters forced some MTR stations to close as they vandalised entrances and set fire to one, while police responded with tear gas, baton charges and arrests.
All four stations – Central, Wan Chai, Mong Kok and Prince Edward – were reopened for service on Monday morning.
Separately, youth leader and anti-government activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung was arrested at the city’s international airport as he was leaving for Germany and the US. Wong said he was wrongly accused of violating bail conditions, which allowed him to travel overseas after he was arrested in August on charges of organising, inciting and taking part in an illegal assembly during a siege of police headquarters in Wan Chai in June.
While thousands rallied at Chater Garden and marched up to the American consulate in the Central business district, appealing for help from US President Donald Trump, others were out looking for a fight.
The march began at 1pm, but trouble broke out around three hours later inside Central MTR station as riot police subdued and took away three men.
