Beijing calls for probe as HK parliament hit

HONG Kong on Tuesday grappled with the aftermath of a night of unprecedented antigover nment protests which saw parliament ransacked, as Beijing ca lled for a criminal probe into t he unpara l leled challenge to its aut horit y.

T h e s e m i - a u t o n o mou s f i n a nc i a l hu b h a s b e e n thrown into crisis by weeks of demonst rat ions over a bi l l that would allow extraditions to t he Ch i nese ma i n la nd, wit h t he issue becoming a lightning rod for resentment towards Beijing.

On Monday – t he 22nd a n n i v er s a r y of t he c i t y ’s ha ndover to China – a nger spilt over as groups of mostly you ng, ha rd l i ne protesters br e a c he d t he l e g i s l a t i v e council.

T h e y h u n g t h e c i t y ’s colonial-era f lag in the debating chamber, scrawled messages such as “Hong Kong is not Ch i na” on wa l l s, a nd defaced t he cit y’s sea l wit h spray paint.

Pol ic e cha r ge d i nto t he bui ld i ng shor t ly a f ter midnight to reta ke control.

The events pose an unprecedented challenge to Chinese leader X i Ji npi ng, a nd on Tuesday, Beiji ng wasted no time in asking Hong Kong to i nve s t i g at e t he “c r i mi na l r e s p on s i bi l i t y of v i ol e nt of fenders” for “serious illega l actions”.

It a lso slammed US President Donald Trump for interfering in the city’s affairs, after the US president said that protesters are “looking for democracy” but “some governments don’t want democracy”– an apparent swipe at Beijing.

Hong Kong has been rocked by massive protests over the past t hree weeks. The ra llies – i nclud i ng a huge pro-democracy march on Monday – have been largely peaceful whi le c a l l i ng on t he cit y ’s Beijing-appointed chief executive Carrie Lam to resign.

But they have failed to win concessions, with Lam refusing to permanently shelve the extradition law or step down, and by Monday some hardl i ne protesters appea red to have reached brea k ing point and stormed t he legislature.

Lam – whose approval ratings are at a record low – condemned “the extreme use of v iolenc e”, de s c r i bi ng t he

vandalism as “heartbreaking and shocking”.

The legislature was closed on Tuesday as police collected ev idence f rom t he debr i sstrewn building, while workers swept surrounding areas littered wit h shattered glass, broken umbrellas a nd ha rd hats.

Parliament a crime scene

Pro-democracy law maker Eddie Chu, who was stopped from entering his of f ice, said police told him the building was “a crime scene”.

L eg i slat ive cou nci l president A ndrew Leung, whose por t r a it wa s a mong t hose defaced by protester s, sa id major meet i ngs were now ca ncel led unt i l October.

“Our securit y systems, our f ire ser v ices, our lif ts . . . need to be tested before we ca n resu me a ny meet i ngs”, t he pro-Beijing politicia n said.

Under the terms of the 1997 ha ndover f r om Br it i s h t o Ch i ne s e r u le, Hong Kong enjoy s r ig ht s a nd l iber t ies unseen on the mainland. But protesters accuse Beiji ng of r e n e g i n g o n t h a t d e a l w it h t he help of u nelec ted leaders.

Act iv ist Joshua Wong, who was t he face of t he cit y’s 2014 pro-democracy demonst rat i on s , t ol d r e p or t e r s t he protests were a response to “t he t y ra nny . . . [a nd] imper ia l r u le of Beiji ng a nd t he Hong Kong government”.

Ve t e r a n pr o - democ r a c y l a w m a k e r C l a u d i a Mo accused L a m of “t r y i ng to shift public opinion by focusing on our young offenders”.

“Instead of t r y ing to solve t he problems bei ng ra ised t hey a re t r y i ng to solve t he problem raisers and t hat is a ver y communist tactic”, she said.

‘Gentle hearts’

Chinese state media have d i sm i s se d t he prote st s a s “mob v iolence”.

“A zero-tolera nce policy is t he on ly remedy for such dest r uct ive behav iou r”, t he Global Times daily wrote in an editoria l.

Brita i n’s Foreig n Secreta r y J e r e my Hu n t e x p r e s s e d “u nwaver i ng ” suppor t f or Hong Kong’s f reedoms but u r g e d r e s t r a i n t f r o m protesters.

He, l i ke Tr ump, was a lso rebuked by Beijing on Tuesday for “gross interference”.

A na lyst s sa id t he chaot ic scenes show ing demonstrators tea r i ng dow n por t ra its a nd s pr ay i ng g r a f f it i signalled a dangerous turn.

“The gestures were meant t o pr ov ok e t he C h i ne s e aut hor it ies”, s a id pol it ic a l analyst Joseph Cheng.

“They are gestures of def ia nce rat her t ha n a genuine pol it ic a l ac t ion,” he s a id, warning they would likely “be seized upon by Beijing and by t he Carrie Lam administrat ion a s just i f ic at ion crackdow n”.

The increasing ly ha rd line t act ic s have d iv ided Hong Kongers.

Brokerage executive Chris Cheung told A FP Monday’s pr ote st wa s “u nw i s e a nd unnecessar y”.

“Violence can’t change the people’s attitude, only reason will,” he said.

But clean-up volunteer Blue Wong sa id she was “a ng r y w it h t he gover n ment f or pushi ng t he young generation to such a stage”.

“I won’t cr it icise or judge the youngsters. Even though their actions are violent, their hearts are gentle”, she said.

“They are f ighting for a better Hong Kong.” for a