Foreign officials denounce radical acts in Hong Kong, call for order

Foreign government officials and experts have expressed their condemnation of the violence perpetrated by radical demonstrators in Hong Kong.

Emphasizing the significance of “one country, two systems” for the development of Hong Kong, they also voiced their support for the legitimate actions taken by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and Hong Kong police to restore order.

Mohammad Faisal, spokesman for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Pakistan understands the actions taken by the Chinese central government and the HKSAR government to uphold national sovereignty and maintain Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.

Hong Kong’s affairs are completely China’s domestic affairs, Faisal said, noting that all nations should abide by basic norms and international law to avoid interference.

Helen Sham-Ho, former deputy president of the Legislative Council of New South Wales in Australia, said Hong Kong is favored by tourists and investors as the Pearl of the Orient, but the current chaotic situation there is damaging its prosperity.

There is no doubt that the priority is to restore order, and the police have the right to uphold law and order, she said, adding that police have behaved quite patiently.

Michael Borchmann, a law expert and former government official from Germany, wrote in an article published in the German edition of the European newspaper Nouvelles d’Europe that the purpose of the ongoing protests in Hong Kong is to stir up chaos and turmoil in the city, and is not a response to the draft extradition bill.

Borchmann said it is true that freedom of speech and assembly is protected by law in Hong Kong, but this doesn’t give people the right to use violence to impose on the freedoms of others. Criticism of China by some voices in the Western media were irrelevant, he added.

In reference to the recent attacks on Hong Kong police and the blockade of Hong Kong International Airport by some radical demonstrators, Abdulaziz Alshaabani, a Saudi Arabian expert on Chinese affairs, said such radical acts seriously undermined the rule of law, hindered economic development and harmed the interests of the people of Hong Kong.

If violence deteriorates further, Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability will suffer a severe blow, undermining its due international image and status, the expert said, adding that Hong Kong should get back on track as soon as possible and restore social stability.

The continued chaos in Hong Kong, apparently created by antigovernment protesters and encouraged by foreign influence, must be quickly stopped, Wilson Lee Flores, columnist at The Philippine Star newspaper, told Xinhua.

Strong measures should be taken, since the chaos is not only bad for Hong Kong’s economy and tourism, but also disadvantageous for the prosperity of the East Asian region, as Hong Kong is an important finance and trade center, he said.

China’s mission to the European Union said on Wednesday that what is happening in Hong Kong is now evolving into extreme violence. It said in an online statement that any attempt to lump together the rigorously lawful exercise of duties by Hong Kong police with the extreme and violent offenses by the radicals is absolutely misleading and incorrect.

China’s diplomatic mission in Geneva also lashed out at the United Nations human rights office on Wednesday, accusing its spokesman of making a “wrongful statement” about protests in Hong Kong that “sends the wrong signal to the violent criminal offenders.”

The Office of the Commissioner of the Foreign Ministry in the special administrative region said on Wednesday that some congressmen of the United States have used their words and deeds to show to the world they are the “black hands” behind the violent radicals in Hong Kong, referring to irresponsible comments from US politicians including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Kim Jin-ho, a professor of politics and diplomacy at South Korea’s Dankook University, warned that the deteriorating situation will not only bring no benefits to Hong Kong itself, but will harm the surrounding regions and the world at large.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong expressed grave concern over the attack by protesters on a journalist from Global Times at Hong Kong International Airport on Tuesday.

“We call on protesters to respect the right under Hong Kong law of journalists, regardless of nationality or news organization, to cover events free from intimidation or violence,” the correspondents’ club said.