Unrest broke out again in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) over the weekend as rioters committed arson and vandalism, and assaulted police and bystanders. The violent acts were unanimously denounced by various sectors of Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (HKFTU) condemned rioters' repeated storming and trashing of some businesses and shops.
"Hong Kong's interests and people's safety ... cannot be sacrificed due to mobsters' 'mutual destruction,'" the HKFTU said in a statement on Sunday night, calling on the HKSAR government to end violence and bring back peace to Hong Kong.
Residents became afraid of going out under the shadow of black-clad rioters, and Hong Kong's catering, tourism and transport sectors were seriously impacted, said Lee Wai-king, chairperson of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.
Lee said continued violence will likely lead to closures of more shops and loss of jobs. "The most urgent matter now is to stop violence and restore order."
Choi Koon-shum, chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commence of Hong Kong, said the most urgent task for the HKSAR government is to take all necessary measures to stop violence and restore social order as soon as possible, so that Hong Kong's industrial and business sectors can function well in a safe environment.
Choi called on all sectors of Hong Kong to jointly oppose any forms of violence in a bid to resume the safe and stable business environment and restore the confidence of global investors.
"In recent months, Hong Kong people faced violent incidents in at least one district every weekend, and even had to be mentally prepared for negative news when waking up every morning," Lan Hong-Tsung, former secretary for home affairs of the HKSAR government.
"People have had enough in the past few months," said Chu King-yuen, secretary general of the Tai Po community association. "We used to live and work in Hong Kong peacefully, but suddenly all was destroyed by a group of mobs in black."
Paul Chan, financial secretary of the HKSAR government, said Hong Kong may register a negative growth this year as the social turmoil has plagued the economy and the 0-to-1 percent growth target has become extremely difficult to achieve this year.
The decline of tourist arrivals has been sharper in August and September, with a collective reduction of 37 percent. The retail sales volume in Hong Kong plunged 25.3 percent year-on-year in August, a significant deterioration from July's 13.1-percent contraction, marking the sharpest annual decline since current records began.
Responding to the violence, a spokesperson for the HKSAR government expressed strong condemnation in a statement, saying that the violence "seriously undermined social order and jeopardized people's lives and property."
Hong Kong police also reiterated on Monday that no violence will be tolerated and vowed to take resolute action to restore public order and bring all lawbreakers to justice.
