Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, met with the delegation of Hong Kong Disciplined Services in Beijing on Tuesday. On behalf of the central government, Zhang spoke highly of the hard work and achievements of the Hong Kong Police Force and other law-enforcement departments in maintaining law and order in Hong Kong. He also reiterated that the central government firmly supports the SAR government's lawful administration.

His words sent a strong message to Hong Kong residents that the central authorities fully recognize and appreciate the city's law-enforcement departments' excellent performance in maintaining the rule of law, which is vital to public security as well as people's well-being and the city's all-round development.

Zhang's praise and encouragement for the disciplined services in Hong Kong could not have come at a better time, as the latter are faced with mounting challenges from ill-motivated political forces bent on messing up the city for political gain.

The recent verbal abuse leveled at police officers on duty by a politically biased school teacher, who is a leading member of an ultra-radical group often caught violating the Public Security Ordinance during anti-government protests, is just one example of the opposition camp's attempts to undermine the SAR government's lawful administration by all means in recent years, including physically provoking and verbally attacking law-enforcement officers as a form of intimidation.

Hong Kong could not have become the prosperous cosmopolitan city it is today without the dedication and hard work of the disciplined services over the decades. Local residents have every reason to be proud of their trustworthy law-enforcement departments.

It's an outrage that some political forces are willing and prepared to destroy everything that makes Hong Kong such a great city in the name of "true democracy" and "universal suffrage", which are merely their stepping stones to seizing Hong Kong's governing power. Hong Kong's stability and prosperity are threatened by illegal campaigns such as "Occupy Central", with which the opposition camp plans to paralyze the city's economy. Everybody who loves Hong Kong should take the central government's cue and support wholeheartedly the disciplined services in preventing such criminal schemes from succeeding.

The author is a current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 09/04/2013 page9)