Spotlight: Continued violence condemned by people from all walks of life in Hong Kong

Source: Xinhua| 2019-09-30 19:17:53|Editor: huaxia
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HONG KONG, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong people from all walks of life strongly condemned the escalated violence over the weekend including rampant vandalism and arson, and called for joint efforts to safeguard the rule of law and re-establish social order.

Andrew Li Kwok-nang, former chief justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Court of Final Appeal, on Sunday called on people to make their appeals in a peaceful and rational way.

"Hong Kong residents' freedom of speech, assembly and demonstration is guaranteed by the policy of 'one country, two systems'," he said, noting that violence could not solve problems. "In a society under the rule of law, such (violent) acts should not be tolerated."

Hong Kong Construction Industry Council Chairman Chan Ka-kui on Monday voiced his concerns about the impact on the livelihood of 350,000 construction workers from the continued violent incidents.

"It really makes me sad to see radical protesters throw petrol bombs and bricks, set fires, vandalize MTR stations, airport and police stations, and wave flags of the United States and Britain but desecrate the Chinese national flags," Chan said, urging more efforts to put Hong Kong back on track.

The Asian trading and financial hub has been plagued since June by unrest that originated from protests over the proposed ordinance amendments concerning fugitive offenders transfers.

Although the HKSAR government reiterated that the amendments were meant to protect the law-abiding general public in Hong Kong and business activities from the threat of crime, and now has withdrawn the amendments, violence continues as protesters have veered off their original agenda, causing a split in the society and taking a heavy toll on the economy.

It takes decades of hard work of the people to build Hong Kong into a world-class financial center, Norman Chan, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said.

However, the recent turmoil has weakened investors' confidence in Hong Kong and the spirit of the rule of law, which had long been the foundation of the Hong Kong's global status, Norman Chan said, urging an end to violence to create conditions for effective dialogues to find solutions.

Hundreds of professionals from sectors including construction, planning, and engineering co-signed a statement on a newspaper on Monday to express their sorrow and concern over the continued social unrest. They appealed to the youth to work together and bring peace, reason, non-violence and the rule of law back to Hong Kong as soon as possible.

"We respect the right to express requests peacefully, but some unlawful violent incidents have seriously disrupted order...resulted in closures of shops and losses of jobs," the statement said, opposing any acts that glorify violence and even spread destructive and negative ideas to students.

A total of 372 lawyers issued a joint statement on Monday to call for restoration of the rule of law. We have been silent for so long and can no longer sit back and see the chaos that have left Hong Kong devastated and our society torn apart.

"For decades, Hong Kong has prided itself on the spirit of the rule of law and it is also the freest region in Asia, providing security, personal freedom and economic opportunities for people of diverse backgrounds from all over the world," the statement said. "We want to see Hong Kong return to its rightful place."

Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po said in its editorial on Monday that the rioters' illegal and violent acts have been increasingly rampant during the past three months and have badly impacted the rule of law, safety of the public, economy and people's livelihood.

The violence has been opposed by more and more people in Hong Kong, and the public is urging the SAR government and the police force to take more decisive measures to bring the outlaws to justice, the article said.

The editorial urged Hong Kong businesses and residents to unite and stay firm in supporting the efforts taken by the HKSAR government and the police to end violence and chaos, stressing that to help Hong Kong restore the rule of law and peace should be the top priority for the moment.

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