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Hong Kong protesters in the Sheung Shui mall in Hong Kong, Saturday December 28, 2019. REUTERS / Lucy Nicholson

The police again intervened on Saturday December 28, 2019 in Hong Kong, in particular in a shopping center near the border with mainland China. At least 15 people were arrested.

With our special envoy to Hong Kong, Stéphane Lagarde

Visitors to the mainland were clearly targeted by this new protest called "shopping" on Saturday in Hong Kong. The pro-democracy demonstrators intended to denounce the presence of Chinese tourists who came to do their shopping in the special administrative region. Calls on encrypted messaging had been launched, inviting to go " to shop " on Saturday at Sheung Shui station, the last subway station in Hong Kong before the city of Shenzhen, the showcase of red capitalism in mainland China.

By spending 15 hours on the pedestrian walkways leading to the Land Mark North shopping center, the participants tried to block travelers, some by kicking the bags. We could hear screams, see rolling suitcases panic, people asking for help. A man was injured, reports the South China Morning Post . " Go back to the mainland ", " do your shopping in China ", launched the demonstrators, while chanting the slogans of the anti-government movement.

At 4 p.m., most of the stores drew their curtains. Some customers were still inside. The riot police then intervened; tear gas shots in the middle of the shops. The police have carried out sometimes violent arrests, whose images have circulated on social networks and will not fail to fuel the animosity. Over 350 people were arrested in a week. Police believe there are no peaceful protesters in Hong Kong, but accomplices to the radical protesters.

► Also to listen: In Hong Kong, a significant movement in 2019