August 9,
2019, Government
of Hong Kong (China)
https://www.news.gov.hk/eng/2019/08/20190809/20190809_180416_518.html
Chief Executive Carrie Lam today
said Hong Kong needs to say no to violence in order to move on.
Mrs Lam made the statement when
speaking to reporters after a meeting with business representatives to discuss
ways to tackle the economic problems faced by Hong Kong.
She said: “As far as (a) political
solution is concerned, I don’t think we should just make
concessions in order
to silence the violent protesters. We should do what is right for Hong Kong.
“And at this moment, what is right
for Hong Kong, as we have heard all our 33 business representatives tell us, is
to stop the violence and to say no to the chaotic situation that Hong Kong has
experienced in the last few weeks so that we can move on.
“And when we move on, we will hope
that we could tackle the more fundamental and deep-seated problems that may
have surfaced as a result of this particular situation.”
BRICS, China/Weekend protest bans explained
August 9, 2019, Government of Hong Kong (China)
https://www.news.gov.hk/eng/2019/08/20190809/20190809_172252_819.html?type=ticker
The Police have objected to some
applications for this weekend’s public gatherings in different districts.
Speaking at a press conference
today, New Territories North Superintendent Vasco Williams said the Police are
committed to respecting the freedom of speech and assembly.
“We issued letters of objection to
applications for holding public gatherings, mainly due to concerns about public
safety, public order and protection of rights and freedoms of others.”
Mr Williams said the Police do not
plan to issue an outright ban on public order events.
“We will vet every single
application carefully on a case-by-case basis. We will conduct advanced risk
assessment with reference to the proposed route, location, size of crowd and
whether the organisers have the ability to exercise proper control.”
He warned that participants of
public gatherings the Commissioner of Police has objected to may be liable for
the offence of participating in an unauthorised assembly.
The Police will closely monitor the
situation this weekend and make respective deployment as necessary, he added.
BRICS, China/Transcript of press conference on impact of the
non-co-operation campaign (with video)
2019 08 06, Government of Hong Kong (China) https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201908/06/P2019080600815.htm
The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, and
the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, held a press conference
today (August 6) on the impact of the non-co-operation campaign. Joining
them were the Deputy Director of Highways, Mr Ng Wai-keung; the Assistant
Commissioner for Transport (Management and Paratransit), Ms Candy Kwok; and the
Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Quality Assurance and Management) of the Fire Services
Department, Mr Cheng Sui-on. Following is the transcript of remarks at the
press conference:
Reporter: Apart from just condemning the disruption or violence caused by some protesters, does the Government have any concrete solutions to resolve the crisis? And also, why is the Government refusing to set up an independent commission of inquiry to look into the root causes of the recent protests and also what happened in Hong Kong in the past two months when so many others including senior officials, you know, current civil servants, academics, hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens are demanding for such an inquiry? And also, regarding the issue of the use of force by the Police, the Police have been firing tear gas to disperse protesters in residential areas and a lot of citizens have reported that they were affected and being tear-gassed. Do you think this is really the appropriate way to handle the situation, and are the Police basically taking the action at the expense of the safety of these ordinary citizens? And also, Mr Lee, can you confirm that if the ICAC is basically looking into the police behaviour in Yuen Long in July the 21st? Thank you.
Chief Secretary for Administration: I think the pressing issue before us now is to restore law and order and bring Hong Kong back to harmony. That is the number one issue we've got to tackle. It's a matter of great concern. You must have law and order back first before you can actually discuss and look into how Hong Kong should move forward. So I think the prime task now is not to dwell on the other policies but to really put Hong Kong back on an even keel particularly to make sure that law and order is here to stay. Very important. Without safety, if we are not living in safety but in panic, then it's not the answer to the present situation so that we all agreed that we should restore law and order first, first and foremost.
The second thing is what we've been doing in the last two months. In fact, if you look at the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance issue, we have actually - I used the word - put a complete full stop to the fugitive offenders bill exercise. The whole thing is now really off the agenda - you don't have to worry because it's a complete full stop has been put on it as the CE time and again repeated, that politically there is no way that it can be revived. So we can rest assured that this is not an issue that we should be concerned about.
On why an independent commission of inquiry is not pursued, the reason also has been explained clearly that we've got an established procedure, mechanism, in the nature of the Independent Police Complaints Council, which is statutory, which is entirely independent and in fact consists of a number of senior barristers, legal lawyers and so on so forth. It's highly representative of the community. In fact, this afternoon it held a special meeting and in fact confirmed that it has kick-started its work to reconstruct the entire picture of what happened from the 9th of June up to the 2nd of July, particularly in terms of police performance, police behaviour. And also, I'm sure that it will continue to extend its duration of its examination, duration of study, beyond the 2nd of July to cover recent events, particularly in past few days and certainly beyond if necessary. Now, don't forget this is an independent statutory commission already kick-started its work without further ado, and in the process it will also proactively approach organisations including the media, including yourselves, to provide information for it to reconstruct, establish the truth, nothing but the truth, and for them to follow up there and then. So the ball is already rolling, put it this way, so in fact this is action, not inaction. So I hope the community will understand that we are already, you know, really taking concrete action in response to public aspirations.
I'll leave it to Mr Lee to answer the second question.
Secretary for Security: The series of incidents that affected the public peace and causing violence were unprecedented since the return of Hong Kong to the Motherland. They were the most widespread, most damaging, and most serious. They created serious danger to Hong Kong society as a whole. The Police reacted to where protesters gathered, particularly violent protesters. In simple words, protesters chose the location, the Police had to deal with them where they gathered and where they may cause violence or damage to public safety and public peace.
They were widespread that is why some might have taken place in residential areas because protesters spread to different places including residential areas. I have explained earlier why the Police had to take action in the appropriate way to deal with the circumstances in accordance with the actual event.
We have seen on television that even at a particular moment there might not be something would happen, we have to look at the incident not just during that single minute or second, what happened before and what could potentially happen afterwards are all factors that the Police should have to be taken (into account) while they decide what action to be taken by them so as to deal with the potential breach of public peace and the potential violence. And it is a lot of people's understanding, crowd psychology, that action can easily be transferred from one person to another because a person may easily copy and follow what another person has done. Actually on the television you will see that when one protester has started a particular course of action, a lot of other people will follow and join in. So there are a lot of factors that the police officers have to consider at the time, at the location, when they are faced with a crowd, particular a crowd which has been hostile or could later become hostile, then they have to decide what appropriate action they have to do.
And the use of tear gas is mainly to ensure that there will be a safe distance between the crowd that the police officers have to deal with, so that when there is really a confrontation then the degree of harm and injury could be reduced to the minimum. And also the use of tear gas also take into account of other police action that they may be contemplated such as arrest action because there could be people who have acted violently and that violence could spread to other people and also cause serious injury to people in that area, including reporters and people, who as some reporters have mentioned, onlookers. So the potential risk to safety is high as you have been watching on the television. Police just have to take all these factors into consideration so as to deal with the violence and the breach of public peace.
I would appeal to people's understanding that under the law, under the Police Force Ordinance, they are under a legal duty to ensure protection of lives and property and also to enforce the law. And they have been doing this for a long time over 10 odd hours a day with heavy equipment facing potential violent attack. Please understand that they have a duty to do and they are still doing their duty despite all these risk and potential danger. And the police officers are doing their best to ensure law and order is maintained.
The ICAC is independent, of course they decide their action, so this may be a question you have to refer to them.
Reporter: Mr Cheung you say you have to bring back law and order to Hong Kong but how exactly are you going to do that? Is it by bombing people with tear gas and arresting them? Do you think just by arresting more people these series of protests will stop? Is it not a wider problem of a lack of governance or people losing faith in the Government?
And also a question for Mr Lee. Police have been seen - I've seen Police wearing – onlookers or members of the public – you've said they are under serious stress but is it a legitimate reason for people to put up with officers in uniform who are enforcing the law to be acting in such a manner against them? And you can see that the general public, some of them, have took to the street and supported the protesters in booing and shooing the police officers. How do you explain that then? Should people really put up with the policemen's attitude to some members of the public just because they are under stress? Thank you.
Chief Secretary for Administration: Let me answer this question frankly, that the police officers are also part of Hong Kong community. They are no different from all of us. They've got families in Hong Kong, they're all Hong Kong people. We must not make any distinction. In the last few weeks in fact, I feel sorry for the Police. They’ve been made to bear the brunt of all this opposition. But what they are doing now is purely in response to violence. They are responding to violence. They want to keep law and order. It's their duty. It's incumbent of the Police as, you know, defender of Hong Kong's safety. Upkeeping our safety in Hong Kong is their duty. They are doing it professionally, they are doing it really, I would say, stoically despite the challenge they are facing. The families are subjected to a lot of abuses and so on, you know, but they are soldiering on. And we have to be fair to them. Of course if there is behaviour, certain behaviour which is excessive and so on, as I said, the Independent Police Complaints Council already announced this afternoon they are kickstarting the work straight away and will contact all media organisations, including yourself, to come forward to help them reconstruct the entire scenario, the picture, from the 9th of June up to the 2nd of July at the first stage. I am sure they will cover well beyond the 2nd of July. Much has happened, in fact, in the last two/three weeks.
So, the so-called examination work is already underway, in progress. As I said that, you know, if violence is not here, if there is no violent action at all, there is no reason why the Police would have to act the way they have to. They are doing the job to really defend Hong Kong, make sure that we got law and order in Hong Kong in place. People living in safety, in certainty, not in panic, is very very important. Okay, I'll leave it to Mr Lee to answer the rest of the questions.
Secretary for Security: Different people, of course, may have different opinions about different things. And I surely understand that there would be people who may have their own opinions about Police's action. Equally, there are a lot of people who want the Police to take action to restore peace, to restore order and to restore safety and security of the whole of Hong Kong. There are, of course, a lot of supporters who have been to different police stations to express their appreciation of the Police's efforts. If there are things that people may disagree with what the Police had done, then, of course, complaints can be made. They will be investigated fairly and impartially and all these complaints will be monitored by the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Council). But I think the answer to your question is: stop the violence, let us return to normal life so that we can talk to each other more. We can get on with our daily business. And if the Police is not attacked, or if any public meeting or public procession is orderly and peaceful, then there is actually no need for the police to take any enforcement action and so have been the years of the procession and public meeting. But the escalation of the violence is before our eyes, on television, on the Internet. We can't ignore that. And when these violent cases happened, then the Police have a legal duty to do it. And there are a lot of supporters who want this public peace to be restored, to want this public order to be restored, to want this violence to be stopped. So the simple answer to each one of the society is: stop the violence and don't acquiesce to violence. Any acquiesce to violence do encourage violence. And violence, as you all know, is not a solution to problem. Violence only creates more violence and nobody wants violence in this society, I think.
Reporter: Apart from just condemning the disruption or violence caused by some protesters, does the Government have any concrete solutions to resolve the crisis? And also, why is the Government refusing to set up an independent commission of inquiry to look into the root causes of the recent protests and also what happened in Hong Kong in the past two months when so many others including senior officials, you know, current civil servants, academics, hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens are demanding for such an inquiry? And also, regarding the issue of the use of force by the Police, the Police have been firing tear gas to disperse protesters in residential areas and a lot of citizens have reported that they were affected and being tear-gassed. Do you think this is really the appropriate way to handle the situation, and are the Police basically taking the action at the expense of the safety of these ordinary citizens? And also, Mr Lee, can you confirm that if the ICAC is basically looking into the police behaviour in Yuen Long in July the 21st? Thank you.
Chief Secretary for Administration: I think the pressing issue before us now is to restore law and order and bring Hong Kong back to harmony. That is the number one issue we've got to tackle. It's a matter of great concern. You must have law and order back first before you can actually discuss and look into how Hong Kong should move forward. So I think the prime task now is not to dwell on the other policies but to really put Hong Kong back on an even keel particularly to make sure that law and order is here to stay. Very important. Without safety, if we are not living in safety but in panic, then it's not the answer to the present situation so that we all agreed that we should restore law and order first, first and foremost.
The second thing is what we've been doing in the last two months. In fact, if you look at the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance issue, we have actually - I used the word - put a complete full stop to the fugitive offenders bill exercise. The whole thing is now really off the agenda - you don't have to worry because it's a complete full stop has been put on it as the CE time and again repeated, that politically there is no way that it can be revived. So we can rest assured that this is not an issue that we should be concerned about.
On why an independent commission of inquiry is not pursued, the reason also has been explained clearly that we've got an established procedure, mechanism, in the nature of the Independent Police Complaints Council, which is statutory, which is entirely independent and in fact consists of a number of senior barristers, legal lawyers and so on so forth. It's highly representative of the community. In fact, this afternoon it held a special meeting and in fact confirmed that it has kick-started its work to reconstruct the entire picture of what happened from the 9th of June up to the 2nd of July, particularly in terms of police performance, police behaviour. And also, I'm sure that it will continue to extend its duration of its examination, duration of study, beyond the 2nd of July to cover recent events, particularly in past few days and certainly beyond if necessary. Now, don't forget this is an independent statutory commission already kick-started its work without further ado, and in the process it will also proactively approach organisations including the media, including yourselves, to provide information for it to reconstruct, establish the truth, nothing but the truth, and for them to follow up there and then. So the ball is already rolling, put it this way, so in fact this is action, not inaction. So I hope the community will understand that we are already, you know, really taking concrete action in response to public aspirations.
I'll leave it to Mr Lee to answer the second question.
Secretary for Security: The series of incidents that affected the public peace and causing violence were unprecedented since the return of Hong Kong to the Motherland. They were the most widespread, most damaging, and most serious. They created serious danger to Hong Kong society as a whole. The Police reacted to where protesters gathered, particularly violent protesters. In simple words, protesters chose the location, the Police had to deal with them where they gathered and where they may cause violence or damage to public safety and public peace.
They were widespread that is why some might have taken place in residential areas because protesters spread to different places including residential areas. I have explained earlier why the Police had to take action in the appropriate way to deal with the circumstances in accordance with the actual event.
We have seen on television that even at a particular moment there might not be something would happen, we have to look at the incident not just during that single minute or second, what happened before and what could potentially happen afterwards are all factors that the Police should have to be taken (into account) while they decide what action to be taken by them so as to deal with the potential breach of public peace and the potential violence. And it is a lot of people's understanding, crowd psychology, that action can easily be transferred from one person to another because a person may easily copy and follow what another person has done. Actually on the television you will see that when one protester has started a particular course of action, a lot of other people will follow and join in. So there are a lot of factors that the police officers have to consider at the time, at the location, when they are faced with a crowd, particular a crowd which has been hostile or could later become hostile, then they have to decide what appropriate action they have to do.
And the use of tear gas is mainly to ensure that there will be a safe distance between the crowd that the police officers have to deal with, so that when there is really a confrontation then the degree of harm and injury could be reduced to the minimum. And also the use of tear gas also take into account of other police action that they may be contemplated such as arrest action because there could be people who have acted violently and that violence could spread to other people and also cause serious injury to people in that area, including reporters and people, who as some reporters have mentioned, onlookers. So the potential risk to safety is high as you have been watching on the television. Police just have to take all these factors into consideration so as to deal with the violence and the breach of public peace.
I would appeal to people's understanding that under the law, under the Police Force Ordinance, they are under a legal duty to ensure protection of lives and property and also to enforce the law. And they have been doing this for a long time over 10 odd hours a day with heavy equipment facing potential violent attack. Please understand that they have a duty to do and they are still doing their duty despite all these risk and potential danger. And the police officers are doing their best to ensure law and order is maintained.
The ICAC is independent, of course they decide their action, so this may be a question you have to refer to them.
Reporter: Mr Cheung you say you have to bring back law and order to Hong Kong but how exactly are you going to do that? Is it by bombing people with tear gas and arresting them? Do you think just by arresting more people these series of protests will stop? Is it not a wider problem of a lack of governance or people losing faith in the Government?
And also a question for Mr Lee. Police have been seen - I've seen Police wearing – onlookers or members of the public – you've said they are under serious stress but is it a legitimate reason for people to put up with officers in uniform who are enforcing the law to be acting in such a manner against them? And you can see that the general public, some of them, have took to the street and supported the protesters in booing and shooing the police officers. How do you explain that then? Should people really put up with the policemen's attitude to some members of the public just because they are under stress? Thank you.
Chief Secretary for Administration: Let me answer this question frankly, that the police officers are also part of Hong Kong community. They are no different from all of us. They've got families in Hong Kong, they're all Hong Kong people. We must not make any distinction. In the last few weeks in fact, I feel sorry for the Police. They’ve been made to bear the brunt of all this opposition. But what they are doing now is purely in response to violence. They are responding to violence. They want to keep law and order. It's their duty. It's incumbent of the Police as, you know, defender of Hong Kong's safety. Upkeeping our safety in Hong Kong is their duty. They are doing it professionally, they are doing it really, I would say, stoically despite the challenge they are facing. The families are subjected to a lot of abuses and so on, you know, but they are soldiering on. And we have to be fair to them. Of course if there is behaviour, certain behaviour which is excessive and so on, as I said, the Independent Police Complaints Council already announced this afternoon they are kickstarting the work straight away and will contact all media organisations, including yourself, to come forward to help them reconstruct the entire scenario, the picture, from the 9th of June up to the 2nd of July at the first stage. I am sure they will cover well beyond the 2nd of July. Much has happened, in fact, in the last two/three weeks.
So, the so-called examination work is already underway, in progress. As I said that, you know, if violence is not here, if there is no violent action at all, there is no reason why the Police would have to act the way they have to. They are doing the job to really defend Hong Kong, make sure that we got law and order in Hong Kong in place. People living in safety, in certainty, not in panic, is very very important. Okay, I'll leave it to Mr Lee to answer the rest of the questions.
Secretary for Security: Different people, of course, may have different opinions about different things. And I surely understand that there would be people who may have their own opinions about Police's action. Equally, there are a lot of people who want the Police to take action to restore peace, to restore order and to restore safety and security of the whole of Hong Kong. There are, of course, a lot of supporters who have been to different police stations to express their appreciation of the Police's efforts. If there are things that people may disagree with what the Police had done, then, of course, complaints can be made. They will be investigated fairly and impartially and all these complaints will be monitored by the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Council). But I think the answer to your question is: stop the violence, let us return to normal life so that we can talk to each other more. We can get on with our daily business. And if the Police is not attacked, or if any public meeting or public procession is orderly and peaceful, then there is actually no need for the police to take any enforcement action and so have been the years of the procession and public meeting. But the escalation of the violence is before our eyes, on television, on the Internet. We can't ignore that. And when these violent cases happened, then the Police have a legal duty to do it. And there are a lot of supporters who want this public peace to be restored, to want this public order to be restored, to want this violence to be stopped. So the simple answer to each one of the society is: stop the violence and don't acquiesce to violence. Any acquiesce to violence do encourage violence. And violence, as you all know, is not a solution to problem. Violence only creates more violence and nobody wants violence in this society, I think.
Ends/Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Issued at HKT 21:06
Issued at HKT 21:06
BRICS, China/Laser guns can cause injury
August 7, 2019, Government of Hong Kong
https://www.news.gov.hk/eng/2019/08/20190807/20190807_161107_371.html
The Police today said lasers guns
are regarded as offensive weapons due to the damage it can cause people.
The force said it intercepted a man
who was in possession of laser guns last night in Sham Shui Po and arrested him
for possession of offensive weapons.
Speaking at a press conference in
the afternoon, Police Organized Crime & Triad Bureau Senior Superintendent
Li Kwai-wah said laser guns could emit a very high level of energy.
“From all our experience during the
last two months, our officers have from time to time been attacked by the laser
beams, the high energy ones, and some of them have received medical treatment
and still (need to be) followed up in hospital.
“It can emit a very high level of
energy which can burn paper in a very short period of time.”
Police Public Relations Branch Chief
Superintendent Tse Chun-chung added many protesters have used laser guns to
target police officers since June.
Mr Tse pointed out that three
officers have received medical treatment after protesters shone lasers beams at
them.
He warned that laser guns can be
invasive and called on people to never stare directly into laser beams.
He added that even if the lasers are
not strong enough to cause injury, strong light exposure can cause flash
blindness.
BRICS, China/Hong Kong: Chefe do executivo: chegou a altura de “devolver a ordem” a Hong Kong
06.08.2019
16h23, Diário do Povo
Online
(China)
http://portuguese.people.com.cn/n3/2019/0806/c309806-9603802.html
A chefe do executivo de Hong Kong, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet ngor compareceu
a uma coletiva de imprensa na segunda-feira. Lam comentou que o recente caos
levou a cidade “ao limiar de uma situação perigosa”, mas que o governo será
resoluto em assegurar a ordem pública.
Carrie Lam advertiu na segunda-feira que os atos de disrupção estão
levando “a nossa cidade, a cidade que todos amamos e muitos ajudaram a
construir, ao limiar de uma situação perigosa”.
Lam, discursando durante uma coletiva de imprensa, assegurou tomar
medidas resolutas para manter a lei e a ordem e restaurar a confiança na
cidade. Ela disse que os protestos superaram a questão da agora arquivada lei
da extradição e têm o mero propósito de desestabilizar a região administrativa
especial, em deterimento das vidas e do futuro dos 7 milhões de residentes.
Os problemas de segunda-feira foram causados pelos distúrbios causados
pelos manifestantes, bem como a greve geral ocorrida na cidade.
Lam disse que as ações dos manifestantes são uma provocação flagrante à
soberania nacional e ao princípio “um país, dois sistemas”.
“Todos amamos Hong Kong e demos diferentes contributos para a sua
estabilidade e prosperidade ao longo dos anos. Esta é a altura para nos
unirmos, colocarmos de lado as diferenças, repormos a ordem, e dizermos não ao
caos e à violência”, afirmou.
Levará tempo para Hong Kong restaurar o que foi feito à sua economia, ritmo
de vida e à sociedade, asseverou.
O secretário financeiro Paul Chan Mo-po, em declarações aos repórteres,
advertiu que a economia de Hong Kong enfrenta grande perigo devido às tensões
comerciais entre a China e os EUA, ao abrandamento econômico global e a outras
variáveis internacionais. Localmente, vários negócios foram afetados. O
crescimento econômico foi negativo no segundo semestre, e, se as coisas
permanecerem inalteradas no último trimestre, Hong Kong entrará em recessão,
avisou.
Em um comunicado emitido às 19:00 de segunda-feira, Tung Chee-hwa,
vice-presidente do Comité Nacional da Conferência Consultiva Política do Povo
Chinês, anunciou o seu apoio ao governo da região administrativa especial e à
polícia pelo que considerarem ser necessário para assegurar o Estado de direito
e para devolver a paz e a ordem.
Apesar de fortes crítias, os manifestantes planejam avançar com mais
protestos. As manifestações de segunda-feira deixaram os transeuntes impotentes
de conseguirem chegar ao trabalho durante a hora de ponta.
Ao meio dia, alterações ou suspensões haviam sido forçadas em 70 rotas
de ônibus, após 15 ruas e três túneis terem sido bloqueados, segudo oficiais do
departamento de transportes ao final de segunda-feira. Cerca de 100 semáforos
foram vandalizados e os serviços estavam gradualmente sendo restaurados,
lançando confusão e perigo para pedestres e veículos.
Alguns manifestantes colocaram trolleys e bicicletas nos carris do metro
e usaram bombas de gasolina capazes de causar danos sérios e ferimentos,
segundo os oficiais.
(Web editor: Renato Lu, editor)
BRICS, China/Hong Kong: autoridades condenam profanação da bandeira nacional
05.08.2019
09h30, Diário do Povo
Online
(China) http://portuguese.people.com.cn/n3/2019/0805/c309806-9603207.html
Autoridades centrais qualificam a profanação da bandeira como segundo
insulto do género recentemente, apelando à reposição da ordem em Hong Kong.
O governo
central da China condenou os manifestantes radicais em Hong Kong no domingo por
conspurcarem a dignidade nacional e o princípio “um país, dois sistemas”.
Um
porta-voz do Gabinete para os Assuntos de Hong Kong e Macau do Conselho de
Estado proferiu tais comentários em resposta a uma manifestação ilegal no
sábado na qual alguns manifestantes radicais removeram a bandeira nacional de
um mastro em Tsim Sha Tsui e a lançaram à água.
Tal ato
constitui em uma violação da bandeira nacional e uma afronta petulante à
dignidade nacional e ao princípio “um país, dois sistemas”, segundo palavras do
porta-voz.
O
porta-voz do Gabinete de Comunicação do Governo Popular Central na RAEHK disse
que foi a segunda-vez que a dignidade nacional havia sido atacada pelos
manifestantes radicais que sitiaram o gabinete e profanaram o emblema nacional
a 21 de julho.
Tal
situação não pode ser permitida e os agressores têm de ser levados à justiça,
disse, reiterando o apoio do governo central à polícia de Hong Kong na
reposição da lei, punição dos infratores e restauração da ordem.
Fortes
críticas surgiram de vários setores de Hong Kong após uma semana de violência
se ter abatido sobre a cidade, paralisando o tráfego e comprometido a atividade
econômica em várias áreas.
O governo
da RAE, em um comunicado emitido pelas 18:00h de domingo, adiantava que Hong
Kong irá passar os limites se tal violência e desrespeito pela autoridade se
mantiverem, os quais estão para lá da liberdade de expressão.
Hong Kong
assistiu a dois tipos muito diferentes de multidões no sábado de tarde. Uma,
composta de 90,000 pessoas, reuniu-se pacificamente em Victoria Park, em
Causeway Bay.
Os
analistas qualificaram a marcha pacífica como a terceira do género desde junho,
sendo que uma maioria silenciosa acaba respondendo pelo radicalismo e violência
perpetrados por manifestantes que lançaram o caos na cidade. Duas manifestações
anteriores totalizaram cerca de 480,000 pessoas, apelando à restauração da paz
e harmonia na cidade.
Os
jardins de Victoria Park estavam repletos de participantes. Mais tarde, vários
jovens retiraram suas máscaras para revelar a sua identidade em contraste com
os mais radicais.
Enquanto
isso, a península de Kowloon, um dos locais mais ocupados da cidade, ficou
quase completamente paralisado perante a presença de milhares de manifestantes contra
a agora suspensa lei de extradição, ignorando os apelos da polícia e bloqueando
as artérias principais locais, e um túnel interportuário.
A área,
composta por Tsim Sha Tsui e Mong Kok, aloja vários hotéis de luxo, lojas de
marcas renomadas, restaurantes famosos e outras atrações turísticas.
No
domingo, radicais espalharam a violência e o vandalismo a Tseung Kwan O nos
Novos Territórios Orientais e na região ocidental e central da Ilha de Hong
Kong. Em Causeway Bay, dois veículos policiais foram atacados por manifestantes
mascarados, que tentaram impedir o campo de visão dos policiais com holofotes e
lasers. Alguns manifestantes vandalizaram também a Praça Golden Bauhinia, onde
a cerimônia de hasteamento da bandeira é realizada diariamente, em Wan Chai.
Um total
de 29 pessoas foram detidas devido a ofensas relativas à aglomeração e assalto
ilegais, de acordo com as mais recentes estatísticas da polícia.
“Os
manifestantes violentos que quebraram a lei terão de ser levados à justiça”,
disse um porta-voz do governo.
(Web
editor: Renato Lu, editor)
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