HONG KONG, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- After more than five months of chaos that has plagued the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), black-clad rioters almost lost control of themselves recently, waging insane attacks and wreaking endless mayhem on Hong Kong, and further pushing the society to the brink of collapse.
In the latest flare-up of violence, masked rioters have gone far beyond committing vandalism, looting and arson. They have assaulted people, police or civilians, who simply stood in their way, blatantly testing the bottom line of the Hong Kong society.
Last week in Sheung Shui, a 70-year-old sanitation worker died of a fatal brain injury after being hit in the head by a brick thrown by the rioters while he was just filming with his mobile phone what was happening on site.
On the one hand, rioters dressed in black spared no effort in covering themselves up and "claiming" they are the "defenders of democracy and freedom," while on the other, they have simply brutally deprived others of their right to life.
Public transport in Hong Kong was half-paralyzed as rioters became more rampant in blocking roads, disrupting traffic and stranding commuters. Many schools are still closed and the Cross-Harbor Tunnel, a major sea-crossing artery linking the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, remains obstructed due to heavy damage to the tunnel entrance caused by petrol bomb-hurling rioters.
Even local residents who turn out for voluntary campaigns to remove roadblocks and clean up streets are thwarted or even "lynched" by the masked rioters, who try to coerce peace-loving people into becoming accomplices of violence.
As a result, Hong Kong in its entirety is enveloped in an intimidating atmosphere. Local residents have been silenced by rioters' indiscriminate attacks and growing aggression. No one dares to speak out because doing so would result in reprisals from the thugs.
A case in point is a 57-year-old excavator driver who was doused in a flammable liquid and set alight by the rioters because he voiced opposing political views against a group of black-clad people.
How can mobsters have the nerve to say they are fighting for human rights while committing such a heinous crime on an innocent civilian? And how can they claim to safeguard freedom while recklessly trampling on others' freedom of expression?
What the black-clad rioters have done to the police is just as outrageous and barbaric. They have intensified attacks using a wide range of lethal weapons, including gas canisters with nails attached to the surface, bows and arrows and corrosive liquids. Police dormitories have been torched and an armored police vehicle was set ablaze by rioters' petrol bombs. Even families of the police have also been doxxed and threatened.
Several universities have been turned into arsenals where rioters holed up to produce flammable weapons with chemicals stolen from laboratories to use against the police. The campuses looked no different to battlegrounds, with flames raging and smoke billowing.
Yet, those rioters who repeatedly challenged the rule of law and endangered public safety, played the victim by accusing the police of brutality and abuse of power.
The rioters' escalating violence has cost Hong Kong residents more than just peace and order. The economy of the global financial hub has taken a severe blow and has slid into a technical recession. The unemployment in food and beverage sector, one of the most badly stricken areas, has risen to 6.1 percent, the highest in more than six years.
Shops were vandalized and boycotted for perceived links to the Chinese mainland or their stance of supporting the police. Starbucks stores run by Maxim's were under fierce attack because the daughter of Maxim's founder Annie Wu had publicly criticized the rioters and backed the police.
However hard as they try to glorify themselves, these violent extremists dressed in black are only wreaking havoc on Hong Kong under the disguise of a fight for democracy.
Before a handful of hardcore rioters lead Hong Kong down a road of no return, all fair-minded people should stand up against them.
The reason is clear: they are the true enemy of Hong Kong and their legacy will be one of just violence and atrocities and nothing to do with their fake and insincere claims of "defending democracy and freedom."
