‘Selling out Hong Kong people’: Global companies vandalised by protesters over links to China

A small group of protesters run through the luxury Citiplaza shopping mall on eastern Hong Kong island, disrupting service at a mall cafeteria before moving onto to spray paint a shuttered Starbucks and break shop windows.

One protesters scrawls “Maxim’s sold out Hong Kong people” in black on Starbucks’ familiar double-tailed mermaid – a reference to the coffee chain’s corporate owner in Hong Kong – as a small group shield him with umbrellas from security cameras before making a beeline for the exit.

Police are on the move, according to information shared on social media, and so are they, leaving only the acrid smell of spray paint behind. As they run through a nearby housing estate, they stop to deface the district office of a pro-government political party before melting into the side streets.

It’s a scene that has happened across Hong Kong over the past few weeks, where the many Maxim’s brands have become major targets of a new campaign to “redecorate,” “rehabilitate” or “boycott” pro-government and pro-China businesses after Annie Wu, the daughter of the group founder, spoke out against the Hong Kong’s protest movement before the United Nations.

The three gradations indicate whether a business will be targetted with graffiti, posters, shattered windows or outright arson.

“We are trying to stop operations of some pro-government shops and companies. I think these shops are stopping us from getting democracy and even trying to harm us,” said one 18-year-old protester who participated in the graffiti campaign.

The months-long protest movement has had a dramatic impact on Hong Kong’s economy, which is facing one of its worst challenges since the SARS outbreak in 2003. On Thursday, the economy officially fell into recession after shrinking 3.2 per cent in the July-September quarter.

Nearly 100 restaurants have shuttered since protests began in June, according to Financial Secretary Paul Chan, with even luxury malls are feeling the pinch as tourism numbers have plummeted during the unrest, particularly from mainland China.

A number of companies targeted are associated with Maxim’s or the Mass Transit Railway Corporation, known as the MTR, which operates the subway system. Others include Chinese bank ATMs and the Best Mart 360 chain, due to its links to mainland China.

MTR station entrances have been one of the most popular protest targets for vandalism and arson after the company began to restrict subway service to protest locations and then entire service lines on protest days, leading may protesters to believe they were acting in support of the government. MTR-owned shopping malls have become a secondary target as well.

The MTR corporation did not yet respond to emailed questions from The Independent by time of publication.

Maxim’s said in an emailed statement that Wu is not employed by the company. They did not reply to questions about the number of stores damaged or monetary value.

While only a fraction of protesters and residents participate in outright vandalism, the more peaceful boycott strategy has not come with its own challenges in a city where ordinary life is as monopolised by conglomerates and corporate malls as Hong Kong.

Despite Hong Kong’s reputation as one of the freest economies in the world, much of day to day life is quietly controlled by a handful of tycoon-led conglomerates with strong ties to the government and vast investments in real estate, one of the crowded city’s most precious commodities.

Many popular franchises all lead back to conglomerates and tycoons with ties to the Hong Kong establishment or mainland China.

China’s CITIC group own a controlling stake in McDonald’s, a Hong Kong staple thanks to its cheap and convenient meals, while Starbucks is operated locally by Maxim’s, whose popular cafes and mall cafeterias have also been targeted. Japanese noodle chain Yoshinoya has also been added to the list due to its local operators alleged support for Hong Kong government.

“Most people didn’t know how much of a role that Maxim’s is playing in Hong Kong society [until the protests],” said a protester Kevin, who has helped to organise the boycott campaign. “People didn’t realise how our life has been largely dictated by the locations of the shopping malls, by the network of the railways and we have virtually at loss of what to do after someone brought up the idea to boycott MTR malls.”

In response protesters have organised a list of pro-protest businesses, often family owned, to choose instead of corporate staples with lists available on Facebook and a new app, Whats Gap, which tells users the location of which businesses to boycott and which have progressive politics.

Protest-aligned cafes like Around Wellington, which opened around the time anti-government protests began in June, have been a boost to business. Situated in central Hong Kong island, it is only a kilometre away from major protest sites, providing protesters with a welcome respite and bathroom break from chaos.

Its owners did not set out to operate a political cafe, but as they began to put up signs in support of the demonstrations and allowed customers to add more of their own notes to walls and doors it began to acquire a reputation. Its status was further solidified as it donated profits to a legal defence fund for protesters.

“The business of our shop has [been booming] two to three months because people want to use their money to support people with the same stance,” said co-owner Jonathan Chan. “We didn’t think too much [about our new strategy] because we are newly opened. We just wanted to give some support to the teenagers and do something we believe is right.”