Six secondary school children were among nine Hong Kongers arrested on terror charges for allegedly trying to manufacture a powerful explosive, police announced Tuesday.

Five males and four females aged between 15 and 39 were arrested Monday on suspicion of "conspiracy to use explosives for terrorist activities", police said.

"The operation we conducted yesterday was against gangsters (who) tried to manufacture TATP explosive inside a home-made laboratory inside a hostel," senior superintendent Steve Li, from the city's new national security unit, told reporters. TATP is a high-powered explosive.

Police said the nine people belonged to a pro-independence group that called itself "Returning Valiant".

Those arrested included six teenage students and three adults who worked at a local university, a secondary school, and as a driver.

Li said they were planning to attack public facilities including a cross-harbour tunnel, the railway network, and courtrooms to "maximise damage to society".

Anti-government sentiment exploded in 2019 during massive and often violent pro-democracy protests that were stamped out with arrests and a new national security law.

While stability has been widely enforced, Hong Kong remains a deeply polarised city where many residents still seethe under Beijing's rule.

News of Tuesday's arrests came just days after a 50-year-old man took his own life after stabbing a police officer in what authorities said was a "lone wolf" attack.

Police said Tuesday they seized various items from the group, including a small amount of explosives, raw materials to produce TATP, air guns, mobile phones, SIM cards, an operating manual on how to plant bombs, and plans to leave the city.

They also found some HK$90,000 ($11,585) in cash and froze around HK$600,000 in related bank accounts.

Police have made multiple arrests in the last two years for alleged bomb plots although no major attack has been carried out successfully.

In April, a 29-year-old man was jailed for 12-years for manufacturing a kilogramme of TATP.

Vitasoy tumbles on China boycott calls over Hong Kong police stabbing
Hong Kong (AFP) July 5, 2021 - Shares in Hong Kong's Vitasoy plunged Monday as the beverage brand was hit by online boycott calls from Chinese consumers after an employee stabbed a policeman and then killed himself.

The 81-year-old soy milk manufacturer saw as much as 15 percent wiped off its share price before closing some 12 percent down, its worst performance since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The sudden plunge illustrated the precarious situation many businesses face when they get caught up in Hong Kong's febrile politics as authorities carry out a sweeping crackdown on dissent in the financial hub.

Chinese consumers called for a boycott over the weekend after a 50-year-old Hong Kong employee of Vitasoy attacked a policeman with a knife on Thursday night in what local authorities said was a "lone wolf domestic terror" attack.

An internal memo was sent out by a Vitasoy employee mourning the "tragic death" of the man and extending condolences to his family, sparking online anger in mainland China.

Vitasoy quickly distanced itself from the memo, saying it did not represent the company and had used "extremely inappropriate wording".

But consumers in China, where the company makes the vast majority of its profits, rounded on the brand.

By Monday afternoon, the topic "Get out of the Mainland, Vitasoy" had some 120 million readers on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform.

China's authoritarian government has cultivated a hyper-nationalist internet where consumer boycotts have been extremely effective at hammering any brand perceived to be disloyal to Beijing.

Hong Kong police said a company on the same street where Vitasoy's headquarters is located also received a false telephone bomb threat on Monday.

Hong Kong is a deeply polarised city after huge and often violent democracy protests two years ago were stamped out with arrests and a new national security law.

Many residents view the city's police force as instrumental in the sweeping political crackdown and over the weekend some residents tried to leave flowers for the currently unnamed attacker.

Hong Kong's government warned that such gestures could lead to arrest for "sedition" or "supporting terrorism".

The police officer who was attacked needed surgery for a punctured lung but is expected to survive his injuries.

Hong Kong's new national security unit has taken over the case.

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