The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) turned into a war zone on Tuesday, dominated by a huge fire and smoke, road barricades and fierce confrontation between rioters and police. Photo: Web

A daily prime-time news program in China that delivers the most important political signals to the public on Saturday spent one third of its time broadcasting four separate pieces that are related to President Xi Jinping's remarks on the current situation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. 

Observers said it was very unusual and proves that the central government has sent a strongest signal over ending violence in the city and sternest warning to rioters and their overseas backers.

Xinwen Lianbo, the news program broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV), spent about 10 minutes focusing on Hong Kong affairs after Xi said on Thursday the most pressing task for Hong Kong at present is to bring violence and chaos to an end and restore order. 

The program showed the reactions to Xi's remarks among Hong Kong society and pro-establishment politicians, who expressed confidence that violence and riots would be stopped after the remarks. 

The program also reinforced the opinions from scholars, journalists and diplomats across the world who support the Chinese central government's stance over Hong Kong and condemned violent incidents in the city.

The anchors also read an editorial article published by the People's Daily and an editorial by CCTV stressing that Xi's remarks are the strongest voice from the central government on the work of stopping violence and chaos in Hong Kong, and the 1.4 billion people of the whole country will strongly back Hong Kong to restore social order.

A Beijing-based analyst on Hong Kong affairs who asked for anonymity told the Global Times that it is an unusual and noteworthy signal. 

"The central government is telling the world that riots in Hong Kong must be stopped, and it won't sit there watching the violence continue to devastate the city anymore," he noted. 

The central government has stayed away from directly getting involved in the past months, but if the violence still cannot be stopped in the short term by the efforts of the HKSAR government and the local police, the central government might consider doing more to help, he added.