Under the guise of "anti-parallel trading", protesters led by two "nativist" groups, Hong Kong Indigenous and Civic Passion, on Sunday laid siege to downtown Yuen Long, New Territories, storming shops and provoking violent scuffles with local residents and the police.

This was the third mob action in Hong Kong targeting mainland visitors and the retail outlets they patronize in a month. These moves, apparently designed to foster hatred between locals and mainland residents, appear to be part of a separatist agenda promoting the illusionary idea of "Hong Kong independence" in the city.

But like other such previous maneuvers, these attempts to promote a separatist agenda in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will be futile. There is no place in the SAR for separatism, or "nativism". It will only lead the city to a political and economic dead end.