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

Economy may have taken a turn for the worse, but it has also given a boost to local, often family run, protest-aligned businesses, writes Erin Hale in Hong Kong

Protesters vandalise a shop seen to have links to China (Erin Hale/The Independent)

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

One protester 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 shields 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 the protesters, 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. Many of 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, daughter of the company’s founder, spoke out against the Hong Kong protest movement at the United Nations.

Three gradations indicate whether a business will be targeted 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,” says 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 luxury malls even 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.

Nearly 100 restaurants have shuttered since protests began in June (Erin Hale/The Independent)

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

The MTR corporation had not responded to emailed questions from The Independent by time of publication.

Maxim’s said in a statement that Wu is not employed by the company. The firm did not reply to questions about the number of shops damaged or monetary value.

While only a fraction of protesters and residents participate in outright vandalism, the more peaceful boycott strategy has not come without its own challenges in a city where ordinary life is monopolised by conglomerates and corporate malls.

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.

These shops are stopping us from getting democracy and even trying to harm us

18-year-old protester

China’s CITIC group owns 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 criticised by protesters due to its local operator’s alleged support for the 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],” says a protester called 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 been virtually at a loss of what to do after someone brought up the idea to boycott MTR malls.”

Economy fell into recession after shrinking 3.2 per cent (Erin Hale/The Independent)

In response, protesters have organised a list of pro-protest businesses, often family owned, to choose instead of shopping in corporate staples. The list is 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 seen a boost to business. Situated in central Hong Kong Island, it is only 1km away from major protest sites, providing demonstrators with a welcome respite from the 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,” says 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.”