Yang Guang, spokesman of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, speaks during a press conference about the ongoing protests in Hong Kong, at the State Council Information Office in Beijing, on 29 July 2019. Yang said some Western politicians are stirring unrest in Hong Kong in hopes of creating difficulties that will impede China’s overall development. AP/Andy Wong
By Yanan Wang | AP
BEIJING, China, 29 July 2019
China blamed Western forces and defended police conduct in remarks Monday about Hong Kong after the city endured another weekend of violent clashes between protesters and police.
Yang Guang, spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said at a news briefing that some “irresponsible people” in the West have applied “strange logic” that prompted them to be sympathetic and tolerant to “violent crimes” while criticizing the police force’s “due diligence.”
“At the end of the day, their intention is to create trouble in Hong Kong, make Hong Kong a problem to China, in order to contain China’s development,” Yang said, without mentioning any specific individuals or countries.
He added that such attempts will come to nothing because Beijing will tolerate no outside interference in the affairs of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
The protests in Hong Kong began in early June as a call to withdraw an extradition bill that would have allowed people in the former British colony to be sent to stand trial in mainland China, where critics say their legal rights would be threatened. Since the government indefinitely suspended the legislation, demonstrators have broadened their scope to demand greater democracy and government accountability.
Police on Sunday repeatedly fired tear gas and rubber bullets to drive back protesters blocking Hong Kong streets with road signs and umbrellas.
The protesters have demanded an independent inquiry into police conduct at the protests, which they say has been abusive.
At least one woman was knocked down when police used rods Saturday to disperse crowds in Hong Kong’s Yuen Long area, where officers later charged into a train station swinging batons. Protesters were “holding iron poles, self-made shields and even removing fences from roads,” police said in a statement that accused demonstrators of putting officers’ lives in danger by surrounding an occupied police vehicle.
Yang said the Chinese government firmly supports the police in Hong Kong.
“We understand the huge pressure facing the Hong Kong police and their families,” he said, “and would like to salute the Hong Kong police who have been fearlessly sticking to their posts and fulfilling their duties against all odds.”
Hong Kong’s government and police force have said the protests have placed considerable strain on their officers, who are dispatched in large numbers for the protests, which occur at least once a week and generally go late into the night despite repeated appeals to disband. Hong Kong authorities said these pressures made it difficult for police to act immediately when a band of white-clad assailants beat people inside the Yuen Long train station on 21 July.
Protesters said the slow police response to that attack indicated that officers were colluding with the attackers — an allegation that authorities have refuted. Last Monday, police arrested six men in connection with the attack, including some linked to triad gangs.
Thank you very much Gyaltsen Wangchuk La,
I appreciate your kind comment and encouragement.
Tashi Delek!
Tibet Bhu (བོད་ཀྱི་བུ་)
Ohe! Bodbkyi bhu (Tibet Bhu)!
Tashi delek. Your comment on this piece of CCP’s propaganda on mess in HK is excellent. You have hit on the head of every nail. Congratulation to Bhula. Carry on. Miles to go and miles to go…!
Gyaltsen Wangchuk
Delhi
The CCP never takes responsibility but always blames others. When Tibetans rose against the Chinese invaders in 1959, the CCP claimed it was orchestrated by the CIA even though it was entirely a spontaneous reaction to the kidnap attempt of HH The Dalai Lama by the Chinese authorities. After all the mayhem, murder and wholesale destruction of Tibet’s cultural centres and monasteries during the so called cultural revolution, the Gang of Four were made the scape goat. Since 2009, when Tibetans begin self-immolations in Tibet to highlight their plight, instead of understanding the cause of such desperate measures, the CCP continued to blame the so called “Dalai Clique”. Now, when Hong Kong is in turmoil because of the CCP’s wanton interference and subversion of the rule of law and freedom of the people, it lays the blame at the door of “westerners”. However, nobody who knows the CCP will buy their blatant lies. It’s a diversionary tactic which has been so worn out, that the world is tired of hearing them anymore. The attempt to portray itself as the victim rather than the aggressor is disgusting and entirely a futile exercise. The Hong People’s rights are being trampled like they did in Tibet. Their values and freedoms are whittled away as the CCP imposes its totalitarian system. The young people of HK are desperate to salvage whatever they can before the dreaded 2047. All the present problems are the result of Beijing’s betrayal of the pledges made but never lived up to such as universal suffrage. By the looks of it, the CCP is addicted to violence and intimidation and they will fall again into the same trap to oppress the people of Hong Kong. However, unlike Tibet, Hong Kong has an international profile that will help to deny the CCP to force its will on HK.