Hong Kong 'disappointed with resumption of violent protests'
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 17 December 2019 6:39 AM
Hong Kong's chief secretary, Matthew Cheung, has expressed his disappointment with the resumption of violent protests in the Chinese city after a period of relative calm, admitting, however, that "deep-rooted problems" must be addressed.
"The work of stopping the violence has not yet been completed; we need to keep working on it. At the same time, we need to put effort on resolving deep-rooted problems," Cheung said at a weekly press briefing on Tuesday.
A protest on Sunday turned violent by late night. Tear gas was used by police forces during that protest for the first time in nearly two weeks.
More anti-government demonstrations are scheduled across the Asian financial hub on Tuesday as well as through the rest of the week and into Christmas.
Hong Kong has been rocked by turbulent protests since June, when the government of the semi-autonomous territory proposed a bill that would have reformed the city's extradition law. The bill was later withdrawn, but the protests continued and took on violent forms.
A respite from the unrest came with district elections in November, but ended after one week.
The Chinese government says the United States and Britain have been fanning the flames of the unrest in Hong Kong by supporting the rioters.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday offered Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam his support and hailed her courage in governing the region during "the most difficult times" of often violent protests.
During her regular duty visit to Beijing, Lam also met Premier Li Keqiang, who called on her administration to end the violence.
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