Violence is not freedom of expression, rioting is not pursuit of democracy

Riding on the extradition legislation controversy, insurrectionists in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and their external allies are mounting an all-out campaign to advance their political objectives.

But their illusions will be shattered sooner than they can imagine. The SAR government under the leadership of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will eventually overcome the challenges Hong Kong now faces. Her administration has the full backing of the central government in its fight against the violence and all illegal acts that undermine the SAR's rule of law and challenge the "one country, two systems" principle, as Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office spokesperson Yang Guang reaffirmed on Tuesday.

At the agency's second news briefing on Hong Kong's situation in two weeks, the top national agency in charge of Hong Kong and Macao affairs once again made it crystal clear that the central authorities will not tolerate any violation of the bottom line of one country.

The SAR government can also count on the support of Hong Kong's previously silent majority, who are now increasingly vocal in opposing the wanton violation of the law and escalating violence committed by the radical demonstrators under the pretext of a "non-cooperation movement". An increasing number of residents are rightly urging the city's law enforcement authorities to deal with the law-breakers with the full weight of the law, lest the city be dragged into an abyss.

The unabated disruption to daily life in Hong Kong suggests the Hong Kong Police Force needs to step up its efforts in going after the ringleaders who have been instigating impulsive young people to unleash violence and commit illegal acts with the intention of making young people pawns for their own agenda. The role played by some local politicians and demagogues also needs to be probed.

Some of them have been colluding with their foreign allies to stir up trouble. One of their most vocal foreign supporters is US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who brazenly sough to justify the violent and illegal acts of Hong Kong's radical demonstrators as the pursuit of "dreams of freedom, justice and democracy". Pelosi has mistaken herself as a tailor who can tailor-make "freedom" and "democracy" for different countries and regions.

For her, violent acts and law breaking are obviously within the bounds of freedom and democracy when they are committed in Hong Kong but outside the bounds when committed in Western countries such as the United States, Britain or France, as she has never praised such violent acts when they happened in those countries.