‘Silent Majority’ takes vocal stance in fight against Occupy Central
Two-week-old force against Occupy Central warns of PLA intervention while running its second round of ads blasting civil disobedience
A new group set up two weeks ago has emerged as the leading force against Occupy Central, launching aggressive attacks on the pro-democracy campaign.
One of its convenors warned yesterday that the planned acts of civil disobedience could lead to "anarchy" and "intervention by the People's Liberation Army".
Occupy Central might be 10 times larger. Will the 28,000-strong police force be able to control the scene? Can the campaign organisers guarantee it will not end up in riots?
Organisers of Occupy Central countered that their actions would remain peaceful and non-violent, and rebuffed suggestions that their plan to blockade Central district next summer would end in bloodshed or rioting.
The Silent Majority for Hong Kong, formed on August 8 with 40 members, has 10,000 "likes" on its Facebook page. Occupy Central has 37,000 "likes" on its page.
Yesterday, the group ran full-page print advertisements criticising Occupy Central - its second lot of ads in major Chinese-language newspapers in a week.
The latest ads warned that the Occupy Central blockade could mirror the chaos that broke out in Mong Kok on August 4 involving 3,000 people - who backed either the police or a teacher who had hurled verbal abuse at officers.