Xi: HK must end violence, chaos
Credit to Author: Xinhua| Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2019 16:18:39 +0000
Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned of serious repercussions for Hong Kong as he pressed bringing violence and chaos to an end and restoring order as most urgent concerns.
Xi made this clear stance of the Chinese government on Hong Kong’s situation while he was attending the 11th Brics Summit in Brasilia, Brazil.
He said continuous violent activities in Hong Kong seriously trampled rule of law and the social order, seriously disturbed Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability, and seriously challenged the “one country, two systems” bottom line.
The Chinese president reiterated that it remains the most pressing task for Hong Kong to bring violence and chaos to an end and restore order.
“We will continue to firmly support the Chief Executive in leading the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region… in accordance with the law, firmly support the Hong Kong police in strictly enforcing the law and [also] firmly support the Hong Kong judicial bodies in severely punishing the violent criminals in accordance with the law,” Xi said.
He added that the Chinese government has unswerving determination to protect national sovereignty, security and development interests, implement the “one-country, two-systems” policy and oppose any external force in interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs.
On Friday, thousands of pro-democracy protesters took to Hong Kong’s streets, defying a warning by Xi, as a campaign of mass disruption extended into a fifth straight day.
Black-clad protesters also occupied university campuses, while office workers endured another day of transport chaos, with suspensions on the vandalized train network and roads blocked by barricades.
Hong Kong has seen relentless protests since June, as many in the city of 7.5 million people have vented fury at eroding freedoms under Chinese rule.
Those protests had been mainly in the evenings and on weekends, allowing the international financial hub to still function relatively smoothly during the week, albeit with its economy dragged into recession.
With China offering no concessions, protesters switched tactics on Monday when they launched a “blossom everywhere” campaign to cause as much disruption as possible across Hong Kong and overwhelm the police force.
Their actions through the week have caused chaos across Hong Kong and been accompanied by intensifying violence from both sides — two people have died in a week in incidents linked to the protests.
The five-day strike has also seen major universities become a hub for the protesters, the first time a movement characterized by its fluidity and unpredictability has coagulated in fixed locations.
Violence from both sides has also escalated and tensions have spilled out overseas.
On Thursday night, Hong Kong Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng fell in London after being surrounded by pro-democracy protesters in the most physical confrontation involving a member of Cabinet since the unrest began.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam also on Friday condemned the incident, describing it as a “barbaric attack.”