Opinion | Attacks on our freedoms cannot be tolerated
Albert Cheng says the violence aimed at Next Media was clearly a political message, and an open challenge to the law and authority of the police
Central, being a global financial centre and the administrative centre of Hong Kong, is the heart of the city as well as home to the rich and powerful, the best of the best of this modern metropolis.
It is also a significant part of Hong Kong history. Many of us still remember that during the British colonial days, a governor's arrival and departure, and the handover itself, were marked by ceremonies at Queen's Pier in Central.
Equally baffling is the lukewarm reaction and inaction from the pro-government camp
Central undoubtedly epitomises Hong Kong. That's why when law academic Benny Tai Yiu-ting put forward the idea for an Occupy Central movement, at the beginning of this year, it immediately aroused immense interest from different sectors of society. It also struck a nerve with the central government.
While plans for the Occupy Central movement are being firmed up, the central government has responded by rounding up the various pro-government forces to form a counter-movement. This counter-movement is being led by Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong.
But no one, not even the central government and its liaison office in Hong Kong, would have expected members of organised crime gangs to "occupy" Central before the pro-democracy activists of the movement actually do next July, as scheduled.
Up until the eve of the July 1 rally, there had been four attacks targeted at Next Media, which owns Apple Daily, and its boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying. In the first incident, on June 19, attackers crashed the front gate of his residence in Ho Man Tin and left behind a machete and an axe.