GENEVA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Framing recent events in Hong Kong as a human rights issue is misleading and focus instead should be on ending the violence and restoring order in the city, experts said here Wednesday.
"It is after the return to China and under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) that Hong Kong residents have truly enjoyed a wider range of rights and freedoms than any time in history," said Wang Zhenmin, director of the Center for Hong Kong and Macao Studies at China's Tsinghua University.
He was speaking at a side event at the 42nd session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council here titled "Hong Kong: Facts and Truth," which was sponsored by the Permanent Mission of China to the UN Office at Geneva and the UN Association of China.
He said that the Hong Kong police remain among the most restrained and professional in the world, and it is unfair to accuse them of excessive use of force.
At the same meeting, Zou Pingxue, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Basic Law Research Center of Shenzhen University, said unlawful assemblies and violent activities "have caused huge economic losses to Hong Kong and have seriously damaged Hong Kong's international reputation."
In the past three months, Hong Kong has witnessed numerous acts of blocking the traffic, surrounding government buildings, destroying public property, attacking police officers, and desecrating the national flag.
"Anyone who truly loves Hong Kong should firmly support the initiatives taken by the Hong Kong chief executive and the SAR government to restore the rule of law," he added.
Zhang Jian, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Research Section of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, said at the meeting that Hong Kong in the past three months has fallen into social unrest, and the involvement of outside forces have exacerbated the situation.
"External forces headed by the United States have strongly intervened in Hong Kong affairs and have tried to use it as a bargaining chip against China," he said.
