Lily Kuo - Hong Kong: why thugs may be doing the government’s work // 'We saved ourselves': Hong Kong train attack victims describe 30-minute ordeal
NB: Chinese government appears in its true colours: as hoodlums. DS
At a pro-government
rally on Saturday, one speaker made a disconcerting proposal for disciplining
Hong Kong’s young protesters. “Do we have canes at home? Bring out your canes,”
said Arthur Shek, a co-founder of the Economic Times newspaper. “Find a long
one to beat your son. If you don’t have a cane, what do you do? We can still go
to a hardware shop to buy a 20mm PVC pipe.”
The next day, dozens
of men in white T-shirts and masks descended on a railway station in Yuen Long
where they beat
commuters with long bamboo rods and pipes. Footage showed several
men punching and kneeing demonstrators returning
from an anti-government march. Photos showed commuters with bloodied faces
and blood smeared on the station floor. At least 45 people were taken to
hospital. Shek has since
apologised for his comment made in jest, but it is one of several details
linking the attack to pro-government camps, at least in intention.
'We saved ourselves': Hong Kong train attack victims describe 30-minute ordeal
Protesters and opposition politicians have not only accused the government of looking the other way when the attacks took place – police arrived well after the assailants had left – but of facilitating them. Galileo Cheng, 34, a Catholic church worker, was among those injured when he attempted to help a female journalist who was being beaten. He was taken to hospital and suffered bruises on his back and arms. An injury to his face may require plastic surgery.
Cheng said it was
common knowledge that organised crime societies, or triads, were active in
areas such as Yuen Long in the outskirts of Hong Kong. “Normally, they won’t
attack local citizens,” he said. “Utilising triads to assault citizens,
threatening them to withdraw from the social movement, is a common tactic used
by the Communist party, qunzhong dou qunzhong” – ‘the masses
fighting the masses’. It seems the government has no way to stop the protests.”
A video showed the
pro-Beijing legislator Junius Ho meeting the men in white in Yuen Long, shaking
their hands, and giving them a thumbs-up. When one praised Ho, he responded:
“You are all my heroes.” In response to
accusations that he had hired the men to go after protesters, Ho said in a
press briefing on Monday that he had nothing to do with the attack and only
warned residents to be safe and avoid violent protesters... read more:
Verna Yu - 'Don't mess with us': the spirit of rebellion spreads in Hong Kong
