An online petition was launched on Thursday in Hong Kong by a community group to express opposition to the violence by black-clad masked rioters and to rally public support for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government and police in ending violence and restoring order.
The petition was initiated by Safeguard Hong Kong, a group formed by people from different sectors in the community, against the backdrop that some black-clad masked rioters, in disregard of the anti-mask regulation enacted by the HKSAR government, kept committing arson, vandalizing shops and assaulting residents and visitors in different parts of Hong Kong.
The rioters' violent acts have plunged Hong Kong into "black terror" and badly affected people's work, study and life, said Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, convener of the group, adding that if these acts of sabotage were not stopped, the hard-earned achievements of generations of people in Hong Kong would be destroyed.
He urged those who do not want to see the self-destruction of Hong Kong to participate in the online petition so as to rally public strength against the "black terror", as well as support for the anti-mask regulation, and to convey the mainstream voice against violence in Hong Kong to the outside world.
