HK govt strongly condemns storming of LegCo building

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)government on Wednesday strongly condemned the violent acts by some violent radicals who stormed the Legislative Council (LegCo) Complex in the early morning.

In the course of forcing themselves into the LegCo Complex, violent radicals repeatedly charged the Complex by using mills barriers and bricks to smash the glass doors at different places and damage the building facade, resulting in severe damage to various parts of the Complex, the government said in a statement.

The radicals also attempted to obstruct police officers at the scene from carrying out their duties and provoked them. After repeated appeals and warnings, which turned out to be futile, police officers adopted the minimum force to counteract and stop the protesters from continued charging, according to the statement.

In the incident, three police officers sustained injuries and six persons have been arrested so far. The police are conducting a thorough investigation into the incident and further arrests will be made, said the statement.

Due to the violent acts by the radical protesters, the meetings of the LegCo Public Works Subcommittee and the Council meeting originally scheduled for this morning were forced to be rescheduled. The operation of the LegCo was once again disrupted.

A government spokesman stressed on Wednesday that members of the public shall observe the law when expressing views or aspirations, adding that the government would not tolerate any violent acts.

The police also strongly condemned the acts of protesters who attempted to enter the LegCo Complex by force and endangered public order in the small hours of Wednesday.

"Any acts endangering public order and public safety will not be tolerated. The Hong Kong community regard that individuals should express their views in a rational and peaceful manner," the police reiterated.