Photo taken on Aug. 5, 2019 shows China's national flag and the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong, south China. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu)

 

Hong Kong will not enjoy a peaceful day unless black-clad rioters are eliminated, and the central government will not sit and watch this destructive force wantonly do whatever they crazily wish, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said on Wednesday.

Black-clad rioters and anti-government protests are a political virus in Hong Kong society, and both are the biggest enemies of "one country, two systems," a spokesperson of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said in a statement released on the office's website on Wednesday.

The statement came after the COVID-19 epidemic began to ease in Hong Kong, but black-clad rioters soon resumed their violent activities such as illegal gathering, disrupting normal business and throwing Molotov cocktails. The spokesperson has been making frequent statements since mid-April regarding various issues including condemning some members of the opposition for malicious filibustering which paralyzed the functions of the LegCo and voicing support for Hong Kong police for arresting criminal suspects and riots' mastermind including Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and Martin Lee Chu-ming.

Hong Kong economic recession deepened in the first quarter of the year weighed down by violent anti-government protests that started last June and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Hong Kong's GDP contracted 8.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, the largest recorded decline since 1974. The unemployment rate has reached 4.2 percent, a record high in the last nine years.

While COVID-19 has threatened the safety of people around the world and brought unprecedented difficulties and challenges to global economic growth, the greatest calamity Hong Kong is facing is within itself, which is the black-clad rioters and anti-government protests, according to the spokesperson.

Since June 2019, they have smashed, burnt and robbed public and private property and threatened people's safety, leading to a significant deterioration in Hong Kong's business environment and international reputation.

Their evil deeds have not only caused visitors to stop coming to Hong Kong, industries to wither and the economy to decline, but has also caused investors to lose confidence in Hong Kong and sabotaged people's positive image of the city. Black-clad rioters are destroying the foundations of Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, the office said.

During the May Day holiday, these people ignored pandemic control measures and marched to the streets to hold illegal gatherings, disrupted normal businesses and threw Molotov cocktails. A pressure cooker bomb, which has huge destructive power, was discovered by police for the first time.

Black-clad rioters and their leaders, organizers and instigators are aiming to block the increasingly deep communication and cooperation between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, resist the central government's overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong, and make Hong Kong into an independent or semi-independent political entity under the false name of high autonomy, according to the spokesperson's statement.

While more and more Hong Kong people have seen through their evil intentions, many are still being deceived and have sympathy and understanding or even naïve fantasies about them, the spokesperson said, noting that this will only boost their arrogance. "The more sympathizers there are for the black-clad riot force, the bigger the price Hong Kong will pay," the statement reads.

The central government shoulders the greatest responsibility in safeguarding the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's constitutional order and national security, and it also has the deepest concern for protecting Hong Kong's fundamental interests and Hong Kong people's fundamental well-being, the spokesperson said.

Considering Hong Kong's future and the interests of Hong Kong people, the only right way to treat black-clad rioters and anti-government protests is to resolutely say no to them, the spokesperson said, noting that organizations and people who have public roles in particular must fulfill their duties according to law and take actual actions to defeat evil with justice, and all of society needs to act together to stop violence, restore order, fight the epidemic, save the economy, focus on livelihoods and rebuild their home.

On Tuesday, people of insight from all walks of life in Hong Kong formed the Hong Kong Coalition, hoping to unite people, clean up the mess and push Hong Kong back onto the right track.

The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council highly appreciates the declaration made by the Hong Kong Coalition. Sticking to and carrying out "one country, two systems" comprehensively and accurately is the only bright future Hong Kong can have, and the central government has enough sincerity and confidence to keep it unchanged and can ensure that it is carried out, the spokesperson said.

Global Times