As it happened: All branches of government, including judiciary, must help stop violence and restore order, says Beijing's top Hong Kong office
- Previous HKMAO media session only centred on a stern statement read out by spokesman, warning that escalating violence by protesters showed 'signs of terrorism'
- City just faced its 13th straight weekend of violence in which the national flag at a swimming pool was burned and airport links crippled
China's top office overseeing Hong Kong policy hosted its fourth press conference at 3pm Tuesday on the political crisis gripping the former British colony, after a 13th straight weekend of protest violence and amid a two-day citywide strike.
Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), under the State Council, previously held briefings on July 29, August 6 and August 12. While HKMAO spokesman Yang Guang answered media questions in the first two sessions, he only read out a stern statement on August 12, warning that escalating violence by anti-government protesters in Hong Kong was showing “signs of terrorism”.
Since then, protests in Hong Kong have shown few signs of subsiding. On Sunday, protesters brought chaos and vandalism to Hong Kong’s international airport again, and set a national flag at the Tung Chung swimming pool on fire in another display of defiance against Beijing. Police announced on Monday that 1,117 people had been arrested since the crisis erupted in June. On the chaos over the weekend, police said radicals had hurled at least 100 petrol bombs at frontline officers, who responded with 241 rounds of tear gas, 92 rubber bullets, 10 sponge grenades and one beanbag round.
Our blog below captured the updates. Reporting by Tony Cheung and Sarah Zheng.
