Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam has accused protesters of rioting after fierce clashes between demonstrators and police in a shopping mall on Sunday night, in which a police officer lost part of a finger and 28 demonstrators were taken to hospital.
The protesters fought pitched battles with police inside the luxury mall, in front of high-end Gucci, Coach and Bally stores, signalling a deepening of Hong Kong’s most serious political crisis since its handover from British to Chinese rule 22 years ago.
The worsening violence is raising questions about how both sides can resolve the stand-off, which began when the government tried to push through an extradition bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial.