Letters | Hong Kong Legco vandalised: selective tolerance of violence comes home to roost
- The violent storming of the Legislative Council on July 1 showed how pan-democratic lawmakers’ selective tolerance has produced a new breed of young hooligans
The English idiom is “spare the rod and spoil the child”. The Chinese one is more severe, “to tolerate evil is to encourage it”.
But what did protesters say? Did they all separate themselves from and not support these terrorists, anarchists and nihilists who won’t be belittled as “rioters”? Some said the youngsters had to vent their anger because the government did not respond (meaning not satisfactorily) to their demands.
Rupert Chan, Mid-Levels
Why was the attack on Legco allowed to happen?
Storming the Legislative Council was an act of vandalism and an unprecedented attack on our (limited) democratic institutions that must be deeply condemned. Not least because the prime cause of mass discontent is government policy, which Legco and its members neither decided nor controlled.
Our police chief now seems risk-averse. This adds layers to the mistrust created by our security and police officials in these last two weeks. Are legislators not entitled to protection? Does the government care so little for Legco that it can be vandalised?
This was the time to crack down on the vandals. Instead, we’ll get further polarisation and mistrust. Unless police can find and convict the leaders of the attack, the leaders of the peaceful students and the millions of marchers – whose conduct has been exemplary – will suspect the motives of police who allowed this outrage.
Mrs Lam should have come up with a more responsible strategy after hiding for two weeks from Hongkongers: two weeks when she was surely not on holiday.
Paul Serfaty, Mid-Levels
Legco attackers were not rebels with a cause
I had been watching the whole day the live news broadcast of the siege of the Legislative Council building. These attackers were not rebels with a cause. These were purely violent hooligans. Nobody, whether journalist, legislator, local or foreign citizen, can legitimise whatever cause they claim to be fighting for, or excuse their actions.
I suggest extremely suspicious manipulations from without. Anarchy is what we have on our hands now.
Y.N. Cheng, Sai Ying Pun