Hong Kong Strike Sinks City Into Chaos, and Government Has Little Reply

Labor unions said hundreds of thousands may have joined the strike, and some groups, like workers at Hong Kong Disneyland, did announce work stoppages. Others took a day of leave or called in sick to join the protests. After weeks of protests led largely by people in their teens and twenties, the general strike was seen as a way for middle-aged supporters of the movement to participate.

Janice Lau, a 38-year-old teacher, pumped her fist in the air in encouragement as she and her 6-year-old daughter, Zoe, watched protesters drag steel barricades to block traffic near the government headquarters in the Admiralty district.

“I’m proud of them,’’ she said. “Society forced them to do this, and they didn’t harm the society. These days, people are more afraid when the police appear than when protesters appear.”

Some businesses also closed. The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which has a government-granted monopoly on gambling, announced that off-site betting facilities would stop taking wagers by 6 p.m., citing safety concerns. At two luxury malls, Pacific Place in Admiralty and Lee Gardens in Causeway Bay, many shops were closed.

Chinese state media outlets, which have grown increasingly vocal in their condemnation of the protests, renewed their criticism on Monday.

The People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s outlet, criticized protesters who had thrown a Chinese flag into the Hong Kong harbor over the weekend, accusing them of wanting to end the “one country, two systems” arrangement that defines the relationship between Hong Kong and Beijing. Mrs. Lam also mentioned the incident in her remarks on Monday.

Since protesters started to increasingly target police stations this past weekend, officers have appeared to be more aggressive in making arrests. But the increased assertiveness risked further inflaming public sentiment, and at least one protest not originally scheduled for Monday was driven by anger over an earlier arrest.

“For me the most alarming thing is we’re kind of on a knife’s edge here — open disrespect for the police, police stations being targeted,” Mr. Dapiran said. “We are on the cusp of what could be a general breakdown of law and order. It hasn’t gotten there yet, but the government hasn’t done anything to stop it.”