Letters | Hong Kong protests: use of emergency powers to ban masks sets a dangerous precedent

Watching the past few months of protests in Hong Kong, I find the use of a tool or weapon has been news only when it first happens. I remember the first time a police officer fired a service revolver as a warning shot and the first time protesters threw a Molotov cocktail, both in August.

What I am afraid to see is the Emergency Regulations Ordinance become an accepted weapon in the arsenal of the government. It is an antiquated and authoritarian ordinance that allows the chief executive to effectively govern by decree. Although Hong Kong never had true democracy, the rule of law at least protected the rights and freedoms of Hongkongers. The ordinance allows many of these freedoms to be suspended, and could be used to enact what is essentially martial law.

Let us hope that the anti-mask law was a one-time use of the ordinance. We must ensure that the use of the ordinance does not become a commonplace occurrence, lest we slip further into authoritarianism.