Punishment ‘only a matter of time’
China
China has warned that it will be ‘‘only a matter of time’’ before it punishes those behind two months of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong that have increasingly devolved into violent clashes with law enforcement.
The comments yesterday by Yang Guang, spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, are a further indication that Beijing will take a hard line against the demonstrators and has no plans to negotiate over their demands for political reforms.
‘‘We would like to make it clear to the very small group of unscrupulous and violent criminals and the dirty forces behind them: those who play with fire will perish by it,’’ Yang said. ‘‘Don’t ever misjudge the situation and mistake our restraint for weakness.’’
Singling out ‘‘brazen, violent and criminal actors’’ and the ‘‘meddling hands behind the scenes’’ as the focus of law enforcement efforts, Yang said: ‘‘As for their punishment, it’s only a matter of time.’’
China so far has not visibly intervened in the situation, though it has published a series of strongly worded editorials in state media condemning ‘‘violent radicals’’ and ‘‘foreign forces’’ allegedly inflaming them.
Speculation has grown that the Communist Party-led central government will deploy the military to quell the demonstrations.
A string of demonstrations began in June against proposed extradition legislation that would have allowed some suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. While the government has since suspended the bill, protesters have pressed on with broader calls for democratic reforms, an investigation into allegations of police brutality, and for Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to step down.
Protesters late Tuesday and early yesterday surrounded a police station to demand the release of the president of the Hong Kong Baptist University Students’ Union, who was arrested for allegedly buying laser pointers. Police used tear gas at one point to try to clear the demonstrators from the blue-collar Sham Shui Po neighbourhood.
Pro-democracy legislator Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung said Beijing should not make the demonstrations a national security issue, because the movement was not targeting the central government, but rather Lam’s administration.
During a ‘‘People’s Press Conference’’, a protester using the pseudonym Jerry Chan indicated that the demonstrators would not attempt to confront the military if it made an appearance.
Echoing language used by officials to criticise their actions, protesters said they ‘‘strongly condemn the lawlessness and the inhuman actions done by police’’.
Hong Kong police say they have arrested 568 demonstrators aged 13 to 76 since June, and charged them with a variety of crimes, including rioting, which can carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.