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China says Hong Kong protests ‘absolutely intolerable’
BEIJING, July 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – China reacted furiously on Monday to
anti-government protesters vandalising the walls of the Beijing
representative’s office in Hong Kong and defacing the national emblem,
branding their actions “absolutely intolerable”.
Thousands of masked pro-democracy demonstrators briefly occupied the road
outside the office in the semi-autonomous city Sunday night and targeted the
building with eggs, projectiles, laser lights and graffiti in a stark rebuke
to Beijing’s rule.
Hong Kong has been shaken by massive, sometimes violent, protests initially
organised to oppose a now-suspended bill that would have allowed extraditions
to mainland China.
It has now morphed into a wider and sometimes violent movement for
democratic reforms.
“These (acts)… have seriously damaged the feelings of all Chinese people
including seven million Hong Kong compatriots,” Wang Zhimin, China’s top
envoy to the city, told reporters, calling on authorities to pursue the
“rioters”.
Another unnamed official from the office said the actions of the protesters
were “absolutely intolerable”, according to China’s official Xinhua news
agency.
Protesters have vowed to sustain their movement until their core demands —
including universal suffrage and the resignation of the city’s pro-Beijing
leader Carrie Lam — are met.
So far, Beijing has refused to budge. Officials and state media have
accused the protesters of playing into the hands of foreign powers who seek
to harm China, and backed the Hong Kong government.
Beyond agreeing to suspend the extradition bill, there have been few other
concessions and fears are rising that Beijing’s patience is running out.
– ‘Silent majority’ –
Radical protests have “insulted the country and the nation”, Communist
Party mouthpiece People’s Daily declared in a front-page article.
“These acts of violence seriously undermined Hong Kong’s social order and
trampled on the rule of law.”
Under the 1997 handover deal with Britain, China promised to allow Hong
Kong to keep key liberties such as its independent judiciary and freedom of
speech — but many say those provisions are already being curtailed.
But Beijing has reacted angrily to other governments and foreign officials
expressing solidarity with Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, warning them
against interfering in China’s domestic affairs.
The “violence unleashed by some fanatic elements is not really against the
bill to amend the extradition law… (but) to advance their own political
agenda”, state-run China Daily said in an editorial.
The newspaper warned that the clashes in Hong Kong go against the views of
the “silent majority”, who want to “live a peaceful life and strive to
achieve their dreams rather than rack their brains over politics”.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1355 hrs