Protesters refuse to disperse near the area around the liaison office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong on July 28 and continued provoking police officers, using various articles like laser pointers, batons and umbrellas. Photo: Global Times 

The ongoing massive violent protests across Hong Kong are causing public fear, and the root of that fear did not come from the already-suspended extradition bill or from understaffed police, but from violent black-clad protesters who attack the city from all angles.

Such radical protesters would attack a passerby simply because he or she questioned their method of expressing their opinions as unlawful and for disturbing people's lives. 

The passerby would then be  surrounded by the black-clad protesters in masks, being verbally and physically assaulted by those who claim to be peacefully fighting for the future of Hong Kong.

"This has become exactly black terror now," Ho Kai-ming, a lawmaker who works for the Kwun Tong district council, told the Global Times. 

Almost every demonstration, in the name of protest and against the anti-extradition bill, has turned into violent clashes in the past two months. 

Radical protesters stormed and vandalized Hong Kong's Legislative Council on July 1. During a July 14 clash with the police in Sha Tin, one protester even bit off the finger of a police officer. 

Then they stormed the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong on July 21, desecrated the national emblem and confronted the police. 

Dozens of big and small clashes have occurred in different districts of the city since June 12. 

Anti-government protesters launched citywide strikes on Monday and groups of radical rioters attacked police stations and residential areas in districts such as Sha Tin, Tai Po, Wong Tai Sin and Tsuen Wan. 

Some extreme protesters removed the Chinese national flag from its pole and threw it into Victoria Harbour, a move that tarnished the country's dignity.

Radical protesters, who distinguish themselves by wearing black shirts, suiting up in helmets and masks and are armed with metal rods, have kept attacking police officers. 

They have exposed the private information of the family members of police officers and besieged police residential areas, shined lasers at their dormitory buildings and sprayed insults on the wall. 

"By targeting ordinary inhabitants, they are destroying the city," a middle-aged woman living in Wong Tai Sin told the Global Times.

She harshly criticized the black-clad protesters as "cockroaches" who destroy social order by blocking transport, breaking public property and beating ordinary people who do not agree with them. 

"They are lawless, aiming at leading Hong Kong society toward anarchy," said Lee Wai Lok, who lives in the same area. 

The city is now "full of bullying and maltreatment," said Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor at a press conference on Monday.

Protesters who commit violence and vandalize residential properties are now seriously affecting the lives of ordinary Hong Kong people, Peng Junfa, who works in Kwun Tong, told the Global Times. 

"They are now putting others in danger to suit their own purposes," he said, noting that on Monday when protesters came to the area where he works, they blocked the roads, causing trouble for many of his coworkers. 

On normal days around 11 pm, many people pass by busy shopping districts. But now, even 24-hour convenience stores are closed, lawmaker Ho noted, worse than those days when the city was hit by a typhoon. 

"When I saw them writing 'freedom without fear' on the streets, I was wondering who brought such fear to Hong Kong citizens?" he said.

Protesters use a homemade sling shot to shoot bricks to the Tseung Kwan O police station in Hong Kong on Sunday. Photo: AP

 
Urgency to end violence

Wang Jiang, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, called the protesters and rioters "anarchists" and their violence a type of "black terror."

Actions such as non-cooperation, paralyzing social functions, besieging police stations and trying to hijack the government all fall into the definition of "black terror," Wang said.

The aim of these rioters is to plunge Hong Kong into an anarchic condition, he said.

Hong Kong is facing the most severe situation since its return to China, said Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Office of the State Council on Wednesday.

Zhang noted that the anti-extradition bill protests have gone bad and have obvious characteristics of a "color revolution." It was the first time a central government official used the phrase "color revolution" to identify the recent incidents in Hong Kong.

The office and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong, as well as some Hong Kong pro-establishment groups and representatives from other sectors, held a symposium in Shenzhen on Wednesday on the situation in Hong Kong. 

Wang Zhimin, director of the liaison office, called it a "life-and-death" battle that matters to the future of Hong Kong. 

"There is no way back. The most urgent task is to stop the violence, end the chaos and restore order," he said.

Wang believed an increasing number of people will stand up in support of the regional government and police to maintain the rule of law. 

While some people hesitate, complain or even speculate, more and more people will take the initiative to create favorable conditions to turn the situation around, he said. 

Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, a Hong Kong legislator whose ancestors' graves were earlier desecrated by radical protesters, told the Global Times that Hong Kong can solve its problem with the country as its backup. 

He called for unity among patriotic people to condemn violence and stressed the need to enhance patriotic education.

Zhang from the Hong Kong and Macao Office of the State Council said the central government fully supports the Hong Kong government led by Lam and believes she has the wisdom and ability to cope with the situation in Hong Kong.

Those who bluntly challenged the bottom line of "one country, two systems," including the behind-the-scenes planners, organizers and instructors, must be held legally accountable, Zhang said.

He warned "the central government will not sit still" if the situation spirals out of control.

The central government has enough means and capabilities to bring down all kinds of possible chaos, Zhang said.

Infographic: GT