After Xinhua attack, media says attack damaged Hong Kong’s rule of law
The Chinese state media responded to the attack on state-run Xinhua news agency which was vandalized by protesters over the weekend. It urges authorities to opt for a ‘tougher line’ against the Hong Kong protesters. This call was prompted by the violent protests which took place on Sunday and left two people in critical condition. The city is bracing up for more protests.
The events of Sunday were the worst since the protests began
The China Daily newspaper condemned the attacks by naïve demonstrators saying their protests were doomed to fail as their actions will face the law for their actions. The police struggled to quell the protests and fired tear gas at the protesters over the weekend. The violence is one of the worst in the region with buildings vandalized and metro stations set ablaze.
On Sunday, fresh violence erupted after a knife-wielding man attacked people. He also bit off the ear of a politician on the pro-democracy side. Two victims were hospitalized in critical conditions. For five months now, there have been anti-government protests in Hong Kong and this has been a major challenge for President Xi Jinping since he took the mantle of leadership in 2012. The protesters are not pleased with China’s perceived meddling in Hong Kong’s freedoms. This also includes its legal system as the Asian financial hub went under Chinese rule from the British in 1997. China has denied this accusation.
The Chinese tabloid has condemned the actions of the protesters for targeting Xinhua. It also urged law enforcement agencies to act quickly. It maintained that vandalizing the branch amounts to the provocation of the rule of law. On Friday, some top leaders in China met and one senior official said the country would not tolerate threats or separatism to national security.
