Hong Kong's 'Indigenous' Villages Mirror Tensions Of An Increasingly Divided City

"In Hong Kong these days, conflicting views of the ongoing anti-government protests are painfully felt in Yuen Long, a town far to the northwest of the glittering skyscrapers on Hong Kong island. It's famed for its cuisine and ancestral temples — and for its pro-Beijing sympathies. On the night of July 21, dozens of men wearing white shirts stormed the Yuen Long metro station twice, assaulting protesters and bystanders trapped inside. At least 45 were injured."

"Pro-democracy activists suspected that Beijing-funded triads were behind the attacks. Yuen Long, closer to the border with mainland China than it is to Hong Kong island, has historically been a stronghold of triad activity. But residents of Yuen Long insist the attacks were in self-defense, initiated by clan networks, fearful that protesters would destroy their villages."

'What are you going to do when someone wants to come to your house and wants to burn down your property and rape your women? Are you going to sit there and wait for it to happen?' says Paul, a 68-year-old resident of Nam Pin Wai, a so-called "indigenous" village — where residents' ancestors predated British colonial rule — just steps away from the Yuen Long metro station. Nam Pin Wai is where the white-shirted assailants retreated after beating protesters on July 21. According to local media, the village is also the territory of a well-known triad group, Wo Shing Wo."

"Paul declined to give his full name for fear of reprisals by protesters. But he was unapologetic about his fellow villagers beating the protesters. 'We are not going to be sitting ducks. We are not chicken****,' he declared, using an expletive."