Beijing’s most senior official in Hong Kong called the participants in the Mong Kok riots last week “radical separatists” whose actions were leaning towards terrorism at an official event yesterday.
Director of the Central Government Liaison Office Zhang Xiaoming further blasted protesters as “thugs”, and condemned their “violent and illegal acts”, according to the SCMP.
The official’s scathing remarks have been perceived as Beijing taking a tougher tack with Hongkongers by categorising participants of the “Fishball Revolution” in the same manner as separatists in Tibet and Xinjiang.
“We, like many Hongkongers, were shocked and distressed by the Mong Kok riot,” Zhang said, before branding efforts to justify the riot as “strange”.
When asked if the violence in Mong Kok meant Hong Kong would need to introduce its own national security legislation under Article 23, the official said the two issues were not presently related.
He continued, saying central government would not allow “this very small number of radical separatists to destroy the most precious rule of law in Hong Kong”, before saying Beijing “strongly [believes that] justice will definitely prevail over all kinds of evil”.
Pro-democracy activist Joseph Cheng told AFP that by weighing on the protest, Beijing is condemning protesters associated with the pro-democracy movement and justifying its own “hardline stance”.
CY Leung agreed with Zhang’s assertion, saying that most of the rioters were unemployed and in “radical political groups”, the political demands of which “cannot reflect the majority of society”.
Labour Party member Fernando Cheung expressed that while violence should “of course” be condemned, Leung should try to reflect on why citizens have become increasingly discontented during his time in office.
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