An overnight attack by white-clad assailants apparently targeting pro-democracy protesters has raised tensions to new levels in Hong Kong.
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The attack came as China harshly criticised the weekend demonstration, saying "central authority cannot be challenged".
The Chinese rebuke followed Sunday night's targeting of its Hong Kong office by protesters who pelted it with eggs and spray-painted its walls.
China made no mention of the violent attack hours later at a train station by men wielding iron pipes as they beat up people clad in the pro-democracy movement's black shirts. Dozens were injured.
The attack on China's Liaison Office by a small group of protesters came after more than 100,000 people marched through the city to demand democracy and an investigation into the use of force by police to disperse crowds at earlier protests.
As protesters made their way home, a gang of men in white shirts descended on a group of them at an underground train station.
Video of the attack in Hong Kong's Yuen Long neighbourhood showed protesters being beaten by men in white shirts wielding steel pipes and wooden poles.
Those under attack retreated into the trains, intimidated by the gangs of men waiting for them outside the turnstiles.
The attackers then entered the trains and beat the people inside as they tried to defend themselves with umbrellas. The assailants eventually retreated.
At least 45 people were injured, and 15 remained hospitalised on Monday afternoon, including one man in a critical condition, the Hospital Authority said.
Train passengers filmed by Stand News and iCABLE angrily accused police officers of not intervening to protect the demonstrators, who have been critical of the police use of force in recent weeks.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Monday that allegations police had colluded with the assailants were "unfounded".
The Sunday night assault on Beijing's Hong Kong Liaison Office touched a raw nerve in China.
China's national emblem, which hangs on the front of the building, was splattered with black ink. It was replaced by a new one within hours.
The official People's Daily newspaper, in a front-page commentary on Monday headlined "Central Authority Cannot Be Challenged", called the protesters' actions "intolerable".
"These acts openly challenged the authority of the central government and touched the bottom line of the 'one country, two systems' principle," the government's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said in a statement on Sunday.
Lam repeated the same statement to reporters on Monday, adding that the vandalism "hurt the nation's feelings".
In Washington, President Donald Trump said he believed Chinese leader Xi Jinping had acted "very responsibly" in allowing the extended protests to play out in Hong Kong.
Asked about China's handling of the protests, he said that "China could stop them if they wanted".
"I hope that President Xi will do the right thing. But it has been going on a long time," Trump added, without elaborating.
Australian Associated Press