Chinese state media warns ‘end is coming for those attempting to disrupt Hong Kong’
- Xinhua commentary doesn’t threaten specific action but warns of three bottom lines ‘that must not be crossed’
- Official news agency again labels protests a ‘colour revolution’ but does not mention right to intervene
Communist Party mouthpiece Xinhua on Sunday condemned the increasingly violent anti-government protests in Hong Kong, warning that “the end is coming for those attempting to disrupt Hong Kong and antagonise China”.
The news agency’s commentary did not threaten specific action to end the protests, other than repeating unwavering support for the Hong Kong government and police actions to end them.
But the commentary – the latest in a series of strongly worded statements from Beijing – did lay out three bottom lines “that must not be crossed”.
“No one should harm [China’s] national sovereignty and security; no one should challenge the power of the central authorities and the authority of the Basic Law of the HKSAR; no one should use Hong Kong to infiltrate and undermine the mainland,” it said, referring to the city’s formal title of Special Administrative Region.
“Anyone who dares to infringe upon these bottom lines and interfere in or damage the ‘one country, two systems’ principle will face nothing but failure and will be held accountable by the country’s constitution and the HKSAR’s Basic Law.”
After leaving the airport in the early evening, protesters ransacked the nearest subway station, destroying equipment and spray painting anti-government slogans on the walls.
The commentary warned that the protesters would soon face justice.
“Behind the violence and chaos in Hong Kong is an elaborate scheme of the rioters and their patrons whose real intent is clearly exposed now. They tried to stir up unrest in Hong Kong and compromise the one country, two systems principle, before spreading the ‘colour revolution’ into the Chinese mainland,” it said.
“However, their attempt to kidnap Hong Kong and press the central authorities is just a delusion. No concession should be expected concerning [this] principle.”
In that commentary, the news agency quoted late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping as having said in 1984 that the mainland government “should intervene” in the event of unrest in the city.
However, it did not repeat the intervention reference in this Sunday’s commentary.
Still, the message was clear that Beijing would not give in to the protesters’ demands in any way.
“Faced with the central government’s resolute support for the HKSAR government and the Hong Kong police, faced with the HKSAR government’s firm and just law enforcement, faced with strong condemnation from Chinese people, the end is coming for those attempting to disrupt Hong Kong and antagonise China,” it said.
“They should never misjudge the determination and ability of the central government, the HKSAR government and Chinese people to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty, security and core interests.”
Speaking at the same seminar, Xu Ze, head of the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies and a former director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said the city risked “sinking into an abyss”, and described the unrest as “a decisive battle between defending or destroying one country, two systems”.
He said that while the unrest was mainly the result of domestic factors, “aiding and abetting” by the US and other Western countries made de-escalation difficult.