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My Take | Hong Kong is descending into extremism
- The city’s future is being threatened by lawlessness as radicalised youth will not go away even if the current crisis is resolved
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Alex Loin Toronto
We have been watching a slow-motion train wreck and it’s not difficult to see where it is all going. In June, when the protest movement was gathering steam, we were well within Martin Luther King Jnr and Gandhi territory.
Then came July 1 when rioters trashed the legislature. The violent occupation was unprecedented. But targeting government and public utilities such as the MTR still made some sense. After all, it was an anti-government resistance movement.
From August, private property started to become fair game. First it was big mainland Chinese businesses such as banks. Then it was smaller businesses owned by people perceived to be critical of the protests.
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Small restaurants and fast food outlets were being labelled as “yellow” or “blue”; and those of the wrong colour were targeted for “renovation”.
But the most disturbing turn came when an increasing number of innocent people were severely assaulted for expressing contrary opinions, taking photos or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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It’s an unmistakable worsening of violence from targeting public to private property to people.
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