‘Sliding into an abyss’: Beijing’s top office in Hong Kong urges stronger crackdown against unrest
- Agency calls for city’s administration and police to use all necessary measures to restore order
- It calls on the Hong Kong government to do everything in its power to end the turmoil and ‘arrest the criminals and severely punish their violent acts’
Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong says the city is “sliding into the abyss of terrorism” and a harsher crackdown is needed to end the unrest and restore order.
This week, a protester was shot by police, a man was set on fire, roads were blocked and university campuses turned into battlegrounds.
As the Hong Kong government struggles to calm the public and stop the violence, Beijing has again thrown its weight behind the city’s administration and police force, urging them to take tougher action.
In a statement late on Tuesday, the central government’s liaison office said it “resolutely supports the Hong Kong government in adopting every necessary measure to end the unrest and restore order as soon as possible, arrest the criminals and severely punish their violent acts”.
It called on the Hong Kong government, police and judiciary to “decisively adopt all necessary means to forcefully crack down on various acts of violence and terrorism”.
It is not the first time Beijing has evoked “terrorism” to describe the anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
