HKSAR chief executive strongly condemns some protesters' violent acts at LegCo building
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks to the media at the police headquarters in Hong Kong early on July 2, 2019.
Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam on Tuesday strongly condemned the violent acts of some protesters who stormed the Legislative Council (LegCo) building.
Lam said she was saddened and shocked by the use of violence and vandalism, stressing that any illegal acts committed by the protesters would be investigated.
"This is something that we should seriously condemn because nothing is more important than the rule of law in Hong Kong," she told the media. "I hope community at large will agree with us that with these violent acts that we have seen, it is right for us to condemn it and hope the society will return to normal as soon as possible."
On Monday night, some radical protesters stormed into the Legislative complex and destroyed equipment inside the chamber of the building.
After the midnight, the police cleared roadblocks and drove off protesters who were staying in the Legislative Council complex.
Speaking with the media early Tuesday, Lam said that some protesters confronted the police, blocked roads and used unidentified liquid to attack police officers on Monday.
Some protesters tried to intrude the LegCo Complex, using a roll cage trolley as a battering ram and iron poles to shatter glass doors of the LegCo. They, during the clash, also threw toxic powder at the police.
On Monday evening, a number of protesters stormed into the complex, destroyed the chamber and defaced the Hong Kong emblem.
Firm support
A spokesperson of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council spoke Tuesday of the violent act of storming the Legislative Council Complex in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The spokesperson expressed firm support for the HKSAR government and police in handling the incident, and for holding the violent offenders criminally accountable in accordance with the law.
July 1 is a day of great festivity for people from all walks of life in Hong Kong to commemorate the return of Hong Kong to the motherland and the establishment of the HKSAR, the spokesperson said.
Some ultra-radicals, however, under the excuse of opposing the HKSAR government amending related ordinances, stormed the LegCo complex in an extremely violent manner and wantonly damaged facilities there, the spokesperson said.
Seriously violating the law, the act tramples the rule of law in Hong Kong, undermines social order and the fundamental interests of Hong Kong, and is a blatant challenge to the bottom line of "one country, two systems," the spokesperson said. "We strongly condemn this act."
The central government resolutely supports the HKSAR government and police in implementing their duties in accordance with the law, and supports the HKSAR's related authorities in holding the violent offenders criminally accountable in accordance with the law, so as to restore the normal social order at an early date, guarantee residents' personal and property safety, and safeguard the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, the spokesperson said.
