China Shows Support for Hong Kong Police and Leader as Protests Continue – The New York Times

The Chinese government and its supporters in Hong Kong have focused their outrage on the demonstrators, especially those who have attacked government buildings and hurled bricks and steel poles at the phalanxes of police officers. The anger from Beijing grew after protesters vandalized the outside of the Chinese government liaison office in Hong Kong, including throwing paint on the national emblem.

The cycle of protests and forceful police response continued over the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, the police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds of demonstrators who had come out to denounce a mob attack on protesters and what they say is a police force that acts without accountability.

On Monday, the Chinese government defended the city’s police force. “We understand the huge pressure facing the Hong Kong police and their families, and would like to salute the Hong Kong police who have been fearlessly sticking to their posts and fulfilling their duties against all odds,” Mr. Yang said.

Mr. Yang also condemned the violence of Saturday’s protest, in which demonstrators ripped off fences and moved steel barricades to form blockades, and threw hard objects at the police. But Mr. Yang did not specifically address the mob attack that had prompted that rally in the first place, deferring to earlier comments from the police. He appeared to dismiss as “unfounded” the fears some have that organized crime societies are colluding with the authorities to carry out political violence.

Reports in the Chinese state news media have also defended the Hong Kong police and even urged them to take more forceful measures.

“Hong Kong police must no longer be like gentle nannies when they’re enforcing the law,” an editorial in the overseas edition of People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s main newspaper, said on Monday.