Hong Kong riot police swept into several shopping malls on Saturday, chasing off and arresting some anti-government demonstrators who had gathered to press their demands in the peak shopping weekend before Christmas.
In a mall in Yuen Long, close to the China border, hundreds of black-clad protesters marked the five-month anniversary of an attack in a train station by an armed mob wearing white T-shirts which beat up bystanders and protesters with pipes and poles.
Police have been criticized for not responding quickly enough to calls for help, and for not arresting any alleged culprits at the scene. They later made several arrests and said the assailants had links to organized criminal gangs, or triads.