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Protesters trample flag

Published:Monday | September 23, 2019 | 12:12 AM
Protesters vandalize a Chinese national flag during a protest at a mall on Sunday in Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, now in their fourth month, have often descended into violence in the evenings.  (AP)
Protesters vandalize a Chinese national flag during a protest at a mall on Sunday in Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, now in their fourth month, have often descended into violence in the evenings. (AP)

Protesters in Hong Kong have trampled a Chinese flag, vandalised a subway station and set a fire across a wide street, as pro-democracy demonstrations took a violent turn once again.

Sunday’s action began peacefully, as protesters filled a shopping mall and, in a new twist, folded paper ‘origami’ cranes that they tied on to a large rigging that they assembled in the mall in the Shatin district.

Some put a Chinese flag on the floor and took turns running over it, before defacing it and putting it in a dumpster outside, which they then pushed into a nearby river.

Police used tear gas as they tried to advance on the protesters.

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, now in their fourth month, have often descended into violence late in the day and at night.