HK protesters sing US national anthem outside consulate
Thousands urge President Trump to 'liberate' HK as police get raw meal boxes
HONG KONG: The unusual - Hong Kong protesters singing the Star-Spangled Banner outside the US Consulate, police getting boxes of raw chicken with their pasta - was soon followed by the usual as protesters attacked the MTR station in the city's Central district.
Thousands of Hong Kong protesters yesterday sang the Star-Spangled Banner and called on US President Donald Trump to "liberate" the city, the latest in a series of sometimes violent protests to rock the territory.
Police stood by as protesters, under a sea of umbrellas against the sub-tropical sun, waved the Stars and Stripes and placards demanding democracy, reported Reuters.
"Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong," they shouted, before handing over petitions at the US Consulate.
"Resist Beijing, liberate Hong Kong."
Police, who have responded to violence over 14 weeks with water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas, were the target of another sort on Friday - 100 boxes of pasta topped with chunks of raw, pink chicken.
Officers at Sheung Shui Police Station opened their catered meal boxes to find the uncooked meat, the South China Morning Post reported.
No one ate the meal, and police quickly ordered food from other places, the newspaper said.
That oddball incident aside, things got violent pretty fast yesterday after the protest at the US Consulate.
Protesters trashed the MTR station in Hong Kong's Central district, smashing windows and setting fire to one of the entrances, Reuters reported.
Police moved on protesters, who dispersed to nearby Admiralty and on to Causeway Bay in a now familiar pattern of cat-and-mouse clashes over three months of unrest.
The Central district, home to banks, jewellery shops and top-brand shopping arcades, was awash in graffiti, broken glass and bricks torn up from pathways.
Protesters set fires from cardboard boxes, building barricades with metal fencing.
Hong Kong police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the upmarket Causeway Bay shopping district
"We can't leave because there are riot police," protester Oscar, 20, told Reuters.
"They fired tear gas from the station. We are heading to North Point."
North Point is east of Causeway Bay.
REARRESTED
In a related development, Mr Joshua Wong, one of the leaders of the pro-democracy Umbrella movement five years ago, was rearrested at the airport yesterday on return from Germany and the US for breaching bail conditions, he said.
He had been charged with inciting and participating in an unauthorised assembly outside police headquarters on June 21 and released on bail.
"Preliminary legal advice suggested that the court had acknowledged and approved my trips to Germany and the US when it granted bail on Aug 30," he said in a statement.
"Therefore, it is believed that there are some mistakes made on the bail certificate."
He said he thought he would be freed today.
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