Photo/Illutration People walk by a vandalized road sign near a HSBC Bank branch covered by panels after damaged by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong on Jan. 4, 2020. (AP Photo)

BEIJING--China replaced its top official in Hong Kong on Saturday, state media said, as anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous territory enter their eighth month.

Luo Huining, the former Communist Party chief for Shanxi province, has been appointed to head China's liaison office in Hong Kong, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

He replaces Wang Zhimin, who had assumed office in September 2017. Xinhua did not give a reason for the change.

The protests, which began in early June, have turned violent at times, with hardline demonstrators clashing with police. The violence has eased somewhat in the past month, but sporadic clashes have continued.

A huge and largely peaceful march on New Year's Day degenerated into violence as some protesters attacked ATM machines with spray paint and hammers, smashed traffic lights and blocked downtown streets with paving stones ripped from sidewalks.

Police used pepper spray, tear gas and a water cannon to drive off the demonstrators, although a government statement said officers were “deploying the minimum necessary force."

The protesters are demanding fully democratic elections for Hong Kong's leader and legislature and an investigation into police use of force to suppress their demonstrations.

65-year-old Luo, a loyalist of President Xi Jinping, has not previously held any Hong Kong-related position and is at the age when top Chinese officials typically retire. In Shanxi, he had been tasked with cleaning up a graft-ridden, coal-rich region where corruption was once likened to cancer.

The liaison office, which reports to China's State Council, serves as the platform for Beijing to project its influence in the city, and has come in for criticism in Hong Kong and mainland China for misjudging the situation in the city.

Wang is the shortest serving Liaison office director since 1997.

Writing in the Communist Party's official People's Daily in 2017, Luo said Shanxi province had been ardently following instructions from Xi to clean up the mess there.

"All the province's people have deeply felt that the all-out efforts to enforce party discipline have been like spring rain washing away the smog," Luo wrote.

Before moving to Shanxi, Luo had been the top party official in the western province of Qinghai.

"Shanxi has gone from being a victim of a regression in its political environment to being a beneficiary of all-out efforts to enforce party discipline," he wrote in 2017.

‘STAUNCH SUPPORT’

Mass protests erupted in June in Hong Kong over an extradition bill that would have allowed individuals to be sent for trial to the mainland, where justice is controlled by the Communist Party.

Though the bill was withdrawn, protests have continued over a broad perception that Beijing is meddling improperly in city affairs and complaints of police brutality.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said in a statement on Saturday that the liaison office would continue under Luo's leadership to work with the Hong Kong government for the "positive development" of the relationship between the mainland and Hong Kong.

She added that Luo's predecessor had provided "staunch support" to the Hong Kong government's efforts to curb violence and uphold the rule of law during the unrest of recent months.