Those who claim to love Hong Kong are destroying Hong Kong. Those who ask to withdraw the definition of "riot" are engaging in rioting activities. Those who claim to pursue democracy are attacking people holding different views. Those who value freedom of speech are hitting journalists, setting fire to a press office and smashing TV cars. These double-faced actions could make us wonder what justice is and what civilization is, Hong Kong police said on Monday.
Rioters set fire on a road in Hung Hom in Hong Kong on Monday. (Photo: Xinhua)
These remarks came after Hong Kong rioters' lawless acts turned the city into a war zone during rush hour on Monday morning, which horrified residents and threatened their safety. And observers likened such lawless assemblies to ISIS while calling for the introduction of measures, including curfew, to restore peace for the city.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor condemned Monday's violence and called on residents to recognize the destructive and fatal nature of the violence which may lead the city to a doomed path with no return.
Lam said at a press briefing on Monday that violence will lead to nowhere and rioters won't get what they want through violence.
Rioters threw debris on road intersections, threw Molotov cocktails at major roads, set road blocks, set fires on roads and MTR trains, vandalized public property, and attacked police officers. All this scared local residents and seriously affected their safety and daily life.
Over 60 people were injured during Monday's citywide rampage, and two were still in critical condition, according to Lam.
Panicked residents
On Monday afternoon, the Global Times reporters saw major roads in Hong Kong, especially those in Mong Kok, sprayed with black paint smearing the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (SAR) government and police, and the buses were left along the roads with no passengers or drivers inside.
Residents were frightened, especially children.
Some rioters set fires in Hong Kong on Monday morning. (Photo: GT)
Several Hong Kong parents expressed their anxiety and deep concern over their children's safety and education amid the riot, and some parents interviewed by the Global Times said that they picked up their children from school to avoid possible harm from violence.
One school bus was hit by the Molotov cocktails, according to photos circulated online, but it's not immediately known whether any children were injured in the incident.
Another photo circulated online showed a little girl hiding beneath the window of a bus, while a fire was raging outside.
Local schools have been seriously affected by the ongoing unrest, as black-clad mobs ransacked several Hong Kong universities, including the Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Baptist University, vandalizing school facilities. Police entered the campus of Polytechnic University in the morning to round up violent protesters and allegedly fired tear gas.
At least eight universities in Hong Kong suspended classes on Monday. Several students at the Polytechnic University told the Global Times that they were deeply worried about their safety, as universities which "allowed" black-clad rioters to enter have failed to secure their safety.
Rioters also disclosed the alleged personal information of the police officer who opened fire and shot one rioter in the morning, and threatened on social media that they would smash the primary school which the officer's children attend.
A local resident said only three of his colleagues, including him, made it to get to workplace in the morning, while others either got stuck in traffic or dared not go out.
Rioters not only vandalized road facilities but also smashed shops and scared off customers along the street. A video circulated online showed several people rushing into a shop while shop employees immediately pulled down the sliding door when a group of black-clad rioters rushed over. They kicked the sliding door and damaged products that were not moved inside.
Some online rumors began circulating to fuel the fire and create more panic among residents.
A Hong Kong version of ISIS?
Analysts described riots in Hong Kong on Monday as "pure terrorism." Mei Xinyu, a current affairs commentator, called it "the Hong Kong version of ISIS" and "fascist separatism."
Mei told the Global Times that the Hong Kong rioters use violence and injure people as a necessary means to achieve so-called "freedom and democracy," which is very close in nature with the ISIS, which glorifies their acts of destroying lives.
Tang Fei, a member of the Council of Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times that Monday's riots shows they have "improved" to do what rioters did not feel ready to do months ago, such as a greater willingness to force residents to join their strikes and go for police's guns.
Tang believes that such violence will become normal if Hong Kong police fail to immediately seize the manipulators behind the scene, such as "leaders" of major social media platforms and outside forces.
To restore stability in Hong Kong, it is a question whether the SAR government will fully restore control of the territory through a "complete clean-up of the tumor," or whether it will lay mines and hidden dangers once again through compromises, an anonymous observer told the Global Times.
But one thing's for sure: Instead of simply relying on the police force, the Hong Kong SAR government must take comprehensive measures, such as imposing a curfew and issuing anti-mafia regulations. Otherwise, mobs will only become more rampant, the observer said.
Mei said that Hong Kong opposition parties and radical rioters had illusions of using outside forces to make Hong Kong a frontline of subversion of state power, but they apparently overestimated themselves, as Hong Kong's turmoil will not affect the overall situation of China.
Hong Kong's regular violence will only hurt its economy, make residents suffer and tarnish its international image, experts said.