Letters | Hong Kong ‘puppet’ protesters using violence? Guess who made the ‘show’ possible

I am writing in response to Mr David Adams’ letter of March 6 (“Hong Kong’s protest violence more virulent than coronavirus”).

One thing Mr Adams ought to know is that no one really wants violence in Hong Kong, even if a fraction of Hongkongers may say they support violent protests. He regards the protesters as being controlled by some puppet master but, he may wish to ask, what makes them so furious with the government that they turn to violent methods?

It is because the government has long turned a deaf ear to people’s voices, from their opposition to mainland immigration officials operating at the West Kowloon high-speed rail terminus a few years ago, to calls for an independent inquiry into police conduct during the protests starting last June.

As we all know, construction of the joint checkpoint at the West Kowloon terminal station went ahead anyway, and nobody knows if police officers treated protesters in accordance with the law.

What makes them protest violently? You may remember that 2 million people demonstrated peacefully for a full withdrawal of the extradition bill, while several other peaceful demonstrations called for an independent inquiry into the police use of force during protests. Only when the government realised that things were getting out of hand was the bill withdrawn. The government has shown that peaceful means do not succeed, so how can the peaceful expression of ideas in any way be the “common sense” thing to do?