Liaison office of China's central gov't in Hong Kong firmly supports enactment of anti-mask law

The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Friday expressed its firm support for the decision of the HKSAR government to establish the anti-mask law.

HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam earlier told a press conference that the SAR government had invoked the power under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance and passed the Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation.

In unlawful assemblies in districts of Hong Kong on Tuesday, masked rioters blocked roads, vandalized shops, damaged public facilities including metro stations, set fires and hurled petrol bombs, besieged the HKSAR government headquarters and police stations, and assaulted police officers and residents.

In a statement, the liaison office said it strongly condemned the escalated violence that challenged the rule of law, threatened the lives of police officers and the ordinary people and disrupted public order.

The central government has always adhered to the "one country, two systems" principle, a determination that will not change and waver, but will never tolerate the repeated occurrence of acts that endanger the national sovereignty and security, the statement said.

In the past days, masked rioters even desecrated the Chinese national flag, destroyed slogans of the National Day celebrations and painted insulting words against the country. These acts violated the Basic Law and the regulations of Hong Kong, and challenged the bottom line of the "one country, two systems" principle, and will be strictly punished according to the law.

The central government is confident that the chief executive and the HKSAR government can make good use of the existing laws in Hong Kong to stop violence and restore order, the statement said.

The liaison office called on all sectors of the community in Hong Kong to recognize the serious harm of the violence and firmly support the HKSAR government and the police in taking all necessary measures to maintain stability in Hong Kong.