Radical resurgence in HK slammed
The return of lawlessness and violence to the streets of Hong Kong during the Labor Day holiday has drawn citywide criticism and spread unease throughout the city.
The four-day holiday, which started on Thursday, has seen crowds of protesters clash with police at demonstrations scattered across the city in defiance of the social distancing edict. Gasoline bombs were thrown at a police vehicle on Friday night. Police later seized 10 kilograms of flammable materials and poisonous chemicals, and equipment for making bombs.
The disruptions deepened the woes of businesses, which were already devastated by last year’s violence and then by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A spokesperson for the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region accused the perpetrators of willfully undermining the rule of law without regard for the suffering of Hong Kong’s people.
In an online statement published on Saturday, the spokesperson warned that Hong Kong faces an abysmal future if criminals run unimpeded on city streets.
Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung Kin-chung added his voice to the condemnation, saying the hope of economic recovery and a return to prosperity for the city’s people has been clouded by the lawless behavior over the holiday.
In his Sunday blog, the city’s second-ranking official criticized the small group of radicals bent on destroying Hong Kong to further their own political aims.
Hong Kong’s economy faces unprecedented challenges. The SAR government’s latest forecasts predict the economy will shrink 4 to 7 percent this year, much worse than a 1.5 percent contraction to 0.5 percent growth that was forecast in February.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po called current economic conditions the worst recession since records on the city’s economic performance began in the 1960s.
Residents in the city also expressed concerns about the renewed violence. Taxi driver Leung Tat-chong said that no one wants to see another round of violent protests and deepening social rifts — not even those residents who had previously backed the anti-government protests.
He told China Daily that some taxi drivers who supported the riots last year say they now hope people will just quit creating chaos on the streets and spare the people of Hong Kong further grief after nearly a year of social turmoil and plague.
Meanwhile, a 15-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the gasoline bombs attack on Friday night. He is among more than 1,000 underage protesters arrested for roles in street violence that erupted in June.
The Liaison Office spokesperson said the radicalization of young people comes at the expense of their future hopes, while accusing Hong Kong’s opposition politicians of inciting young people to break the law.
Wong Kwan-yu, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, agreed. He took aim at opposition lawmakers, especially a lawmaker who represents the education sector, whom Wong accused not only of failing to take a clear position against the violence but on some occasions, appearing to glorify it.
Hong Kong will remain under a pall of divisive sentiments if young people are not told to say no to violence, Wong said.