Hong Kong’s anti-government protests continued on Christmas, with some reports of confrontations between police and demonstrators but not the general chaos government officials seemed to be expecting.
Reuters cited reports of tear gas fired in Mong Kok, a district that has seen some of the most energetic demonstrations and has a history of clashes with the police. Crowds in Mong Kong reportedly shouted insults at the police, who have been criticized for using excessive force against demonstrators. About 25 injuries were reported in total, the most serious apparently caused when a man fell off a balcony inside a shopping mall while trying to escape from the police.
“Confrontation is expected. It doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas,” a young man shouting expletives at the police explained to Reuters, noting that the political situation in Hong Kong remains essentially unchanged.
The government refuses to make any further concessions to the protest movement after yielding on the first of its “Five Demands,” namely the call for permanent withdrawal of the hated extradition bill that triggered the current unrest. The protesters refuse to stop demonstrating, flagrantly disregard the prohibition against masks imposed by Chief Executive Carrie Lam, and still have enough manpower to block roads and shut down shopping centers.
Lam complained on Wednesday that Christmas Eve celebrations were “ruined” by the protesters.
“Such illegal acts have not only dampened the festive mood but also adversely affected local businesses,” she said.
Protest leaders disagreed, saying the demonstrations have fostered a sense of brotherhood and unity among the people. A restaurant called Kwong Wing Catering served free Christmas dinner to protesters, some of it donated by supporters of the movement. Diners spoke of each other as “family” and saluted establishments like Kwong Wing that have treated demonstrators kindly.
“I feel very comforted that someone is willing to cook a meal for us. I just got tear-gassed yesterday so I think it’s very special,” said one of the students waiting in line for a Kwong Wing meal.
Critics of the police said they seemed to be going out of their way to stage dramatic actions, pick fights with protesters, and intimidate Christmas and Boxing Day shoppers sympathetic to the movement:
Hong Kong’s largest bank, HSBC, issued a statement on Christmas Eve distancing itself from a police effort to freeze the assets of Spark Alliance HK, a nonprofit organization created in 2016 to support pro-democracy protests. HSBC was evidently motivated to speak up because protesters vandalized two of its branch offices for the first time on Christmas Eve, making their motivations clear by spray-painting “Revenge for Spark Alliance” on the walls.
HSBC said it was “saddened and disappointed by the acts of vandalism” but stressed that it closed Spark Alliance’s account in November “following fund transfer instructions from the customer as the account was not being used for its stated purpose,” not because it was pressured into taking punitive action against the alliance for political reasons.
“As an international bank, the decision to close the account was in accordance with global regulatory standards. Global regulators require banks to perform due diligence reviews on customer accounts regularly,” HSBC said.
The police did get involved later, after the account was closed, by asking HSBC to put a stop on the check issued to refund the account balance. The recipients of the check had waited an inordinately long time to cash it, for unknown reasons.
The amount of money frozen in the Spark Alliance case ran into millions of dollars. Four members of the group were arrested on money-laundering charges, which they denied. The group issued a combined statement accusing the police of trying to shut down financial support for the protest movement. Quite a few of the demonstrators apparently agreed with this criticism, as most of the tense confrontations on Christmas involved people who professed anger at the treatment of Spark Alliance.