China: Punishment for Hong Kong Protesters 'Only a Matter of
Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2019 5:25 am
Yang Guang, center, spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, speaks during a press conference in Beijing, Aug. 6, 2019.
China has issued a dire warning to demonstrators who have brought Hong Kong to a standstill after more than two months of heated protests.
Yang Guang, the spokesman for the Chinese government's Hong Kong and Macao affairs office, told reporters during a briefing in Beijing Tuesday it is "only a matter of time" before the leaders of the massive protests face punishment.
Several weeks of massive street demonstrations have pushed the Asian financial hub into its worst political crisis since Britain handed over control to China in 1997.
Anti-extradition bill protesters march at Tseung Kwan O residential district in Hong Kong, Aug. 4, 2019.
The demonstrations began in June with angry residents protesting against an extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial. The bill has since been suspended, but the demonstrations have continued and have since evolved into calls for greater democracy.
Yang said a small group of criminals have pushed Hong Kong into "a dangerous abyss," and warned the group not to "misjudge the situation and mistake our restraint for weakness." He also warned that "those who play with fire will perish by it."