Speech moves diplomats to condemn violence

GENEVA - Diplomats from various countries responded positively to the speech delivered Wednesday by Pansy Ho Chiuking, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Federation of Women, at the 42nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

They also joined the Hong Kong NGO representative in condemning violent demonstrators in Hong Kong and called for calm and normal social order in the special administrative region.

In her speech, Ho condemned the "increasingly escalating violent acts" in the Chinese city and called for the international community to reprimand the organizers and influencers and help to stop the promotion of hatred and violent extremism, which can only "leave irreparable scars to forever strip our beloved city of harmony and stability."

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was in Geneva to address the UN rights body session, told Xinhua that "people should respect the law and not create a disordered situation" that will "undermine the environment of investment and peace and tranquillity in Hong Kong."

Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, permanent representative of Myanmar to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said, "We should condemn any violent acts there."

"What is happening in Hong Kong is an internal affair of China, and the principles of non-selectivity, objectivity, non-politicization and, very importantly, non-interference in the internal affairs of another country should be respected," the ambassador said.

Jorge Valero, Venezuela's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, expressed "the most robust rejection of the acts of violence perpetrated in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in recent weeks."

He said these are "events openly promoted by foreign interests to damage the internal order, public security and territorial integrity of the People's Republic of China."

Sitsangkhom Sisaketh, Lao deputy permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, said the Hong Kong demonstrations have not been peaceful and that they undermine the SAR's security and economy.

"I think that the international community will have a better understanding of what has been happening in Hong Kong through the statement of the representative of the Hong Kong Federation of Women," he said.

"The violent protests in Hong Kong have drawn the attention of the international community, as the majority of Hong Kong people have been affected. Their safety is under a threat posed by protesters," he said.

Mao Junxiang, executive director of the Center for Human Rights Studies at China's Central South University, who was in Geneva to attend the UN meetings, said the Hong Kong protests "surpassed the scope of peaceful demonstrations and have seriously undermined the social order, endangering Hong Kong."

Xinhua