‘Don’t do stupid things’: PLA blames ‘separatists’ in Hong Kong for Mong Kok riot, criticises Western media’s coverage of incident

The People’s Liberation Army has pointed a finger at “individual local radical separatist organisation(s)” for “plotting” the Mong Kok riot, and criticised the Western media for beautifying the unrest in its first remarks over the chaotic scenes on the first night of the Lunar New Year. It did not specify whether one or more such organisations were involved.

The military’s comments came in a commentary titled “Never Allow Any Powers to Bring Chaos to Hong Kong” published on Thursday on the front page of Zhongguo Guofangbao (or China National Defence News), a sister newspaper to the military’s flagship PLA Daily.

It was also carried on the front page of the PLA’s online news portal.

READ MORE: Beijing signals less tolerant approach in branding instigators of Mong Kok riot as Hong Kong ‘separatists’

The commentary mirrored the wording used to define the Mong Kok unrest from the foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei on February 12, when he branded groups behind it as “separatists” in a strongly worded statement.

It was unprecedented for Beijing to identify separatists in the city. This classification appears to place the rioters in the same category as separatists from the Tibet and Xinjiang regions, who are seen as a serious threat to national security.

This was the third set of comments from Beijing authorities since the riot, after the foreign ministry statement and the remarks from liaison office chief Zhang Xiaoming, who said on Sunday that those who took part in the riot were “thugs” who were “leaning towards terrorism”.

The commentary also lashed out at the Western media for how they reported on the riot.