Foreign forces urged to stop interfering in HK affairs

Mass rally in Hong Kong on New Year’s Day degenerates into violence, as around 400 arrested

Foreign politicians have been urged to stop interfering in the affairs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and to not encourage radicals or hurt the image of the Hong Kong police.

A spokesman of the Commissioner Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR made the remarks on New Year’s Day in response to an open letter from a group of overseas politicians to the Hong Kong chief executive.

The letter, critical of how the government and police are handling the city’s protracted social unrest, was deemed as gross interference in China’s domestic affairs and a misinformed, “unfounded and misguided” view of what was really happening in the city, the HKSAR government said in a Jan 1 statement.

The city has been gripped by protest violence since June. In two separate incidents in November, an innocent man was set on fire in broad daylight by protesters and a government contract cleaner died after being hit in the head by a brick during clashes. So far, 520 police officers have been injured on duty.

The Commissioner’s Office resolutely opposes any interference by foreign forces and will continue to firmly support the SAR in exercising law-based governance, back Hong Kong police in strictly enforcing the law, and support the judiciary to bring criminals to justice in accordance with the law, the spokesman said.

On New Year’s Eve, rioters hurled gasoline bombs in various districts, causing damage to a police vehicle and three private cars, according to Hong Kong police.

Rioters also hijacked a march on

New Year’s Day. The mass rally was peaceful initially but degenerated into violence as rioters smashed outlets of HSBC bank and Starbucks in the Wan Chai district.

Due to safety concerns, the public procession was forced to end around 5:30 pm, said Ng Lok-Chun, senior police superintendent for the Hong Kong Island Region.

During the chaos, radical protesters spray-painted insulting comments about High Court Judge Anthea Pang Po-kam outside the court. Hong Kong’s legal profession on Jan 1 condemned the behavior as seriously challenging the rule of law and damaging public confidence in the judiciary.

Later that night, black-clad masked radicals, shielded by dozens of umbrellas, also spray-painted and set alight a bronze lion statue outside the HSBC headquarters in the Central district.

Several HSBC ATMs were also vandalized, while a branch of the bank in Central was also set on fire.

Police arrested at least 400 people for participating in illegal assemblies and possession of offensive weapons on Jan 1.