Letters | Hong Kong protesters playing a risky game in provoking China with anarchy

Through the mist of chaos and the new normal of weekly protests, what is clear is that there is a road map for the protest strategy. First it was the Legislative Council, the police headquarters, Department of Justice, then the New Territories, tourist areas like the West Kowloon high-speed rail station, and, most recently, Hong Kong’s highest court and Beijing’s liaison office.

Ironically, the concept of law and order is asymmetric for the pro-democracy camp, the Civil Human Rights Front and their media allies. One of the side effects is that the flood of sympathy for previous violence against police or passers-by with different opinions may have driven Yuen Long citizens to achieve their own justice by mirroring protester violence, which I disagree with, and condemn equally. Even as news of the latest violence broke, a pro-establishment lawmaker’s office was vandalised by protesters. Once again, a vicious circle.

It has been seven weeks since the eruption of the anti-extradition protests. Beijing has been largely quiet, except for the exchange of position statements on the foreign affairs front, leaving the Hong Kong government to handle the situation. However, a new battlefront, created by radical protesters who audaciously besieged the Beijing liaison office and defaced China’s national emblem, might push Beijing to weigh in.

The European Union certainly has some gall, criticising our police and government policies (“EU adopts Hong Kong motion Beijing says is full of ‘ignorance and prejudice’”, July 18)! They are not party to the Sino-British Joint Declaration. More importantly, while somewhat belatedly, the chief executive has listened to the people and declared the extradition bill “dead”.