By Press Association
Riot police have stormed several shopping centres in Hong Kong in a move to thwart more pro-democracy protests.
But violence did break out when a knife-wielding man slashed several people and bit off part of the ear of a local pro-democracy politician.
Tonight outside Cityplaza, a man slashed several people with a knife and bit off part of the ear of a district councillor who was trying to stop him from leaving.
Local media said the man told his victims that Hong Kong belongs to China.
Television footage showed the man biting the councillor’s ear and being badly beaten up by a crowd after the attack, before police arrived. At least five people were injured, reports said.
The move came as the city’s leader heads to Beijing for talks on deepening economic integration between the semi-autonomous Chinese territory and mainland China.
There were calls online urging protesters to gather in seven locations to sustain a push for political reform following a chaotic day of protests and clashes with police on Saturday, with the anti-government movement showing no signs of letting up after nearly five months.
Most of the rallies did not pan out Sunday as scores of riot police took up position, searching and arresting people, dispersing crowds and blocking access to a park next to the office of embattled chief executive Carrie Lam.
Nevertheless, small pockets of hardcore demonstrators managed to cause some trouble.
As some protesters chanted slogans at the New Town Plaza shopping mall in Sha Tin, police said they moved in after some “masked rioters” with fire extinguishers vandalised turnstiles and smashed windows at the subway station linked to the mall.
In two malls in the New Territories in the north, protesters vandalised shops, threw paint and attacked an outlet of Japanese fast food chain Yoshinoya, which has been frequently targeted after its owner voiced support for the Hong Kong police.
A riot police officer fires pepper spray toward people at a shopping mall in Hong Kong today.
Police rushed into one of the malls after objects were thrown at them. At another, protesters used umbrellas and cable ties to lock the mall entrance to prevent police from entering.
Police today stormed the Cityplaza shopping complex on Hong Kong Island after some protesters sprayed graffiti at a restaurant. A human chain of dozens of people was broken up and angry shoppers heckled the police.
