Occupy Central was catalyst for the collapse of rule of law in Hong Kong, Chinese state media says
- Protagonists of mostly peaceful 2014 movement ‘used distorted concepts … to poison many young people’, according to Xinhua commentary
- ‘Chaos’ caused by current protest ‘brings direct harm to Hong Kong’s economy and security, and buries the seed of anarchy in people’s minds’, it says
Occupy, which lasted for 79 days, “opened Pandora’s box, as a few people in Hong Kong used distorted concepts such as ‘achieving justice by violating the law’ to poison many young people”, Xinhua said in an article released by its bureau in the city.
The leaders of the protest “tried to achieve a society that gradually breaks free of the rule of law … so that Hong Kong society will sink into chaos and they can achieve their political goals”, it said.
Meanwhile, the “current protests surrounding the extradition bill that have been ongoing for more than three months amplified such an effect”, it said, adding that the “chaos brings direct harm to Hong Kong’s economy and security, and buries the seed of anarchy in people’s minds”.
“In a society with the rule of law like Hong Kong, any claim, no matter how noble the target is, shall not be expressed in an illegal way, and it cannot resort to violence or crime.”
