Protesters trample flag
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.