HK hit hard by violence and political virus: China Daily editorial

The violence in Hong Kong over the weekend indicates that some in the special administrative region are willing to risk not only their own lives, but the lives of others to rail against their lot and what they perceive to be injustice.

More than 100 protesters blocked roads and set fires in Hong Kong's Yuen Long area on Saturday evening, with clashes with the police continuing until the early hours of Sunday morning. Sixty people were arrested, according to reports.

Those who organized and any who participated in the violence in Yuen Long ignored the SAR government's anti-virus measures such as maintaining social distance and avoiding unnecessary travel.

This is particularly reckless as the combined efforts of the SAR government and Hong Kong residents have managed to limit the number of novel coronavirus infections in Hong Kong.

But amid the spread of the virus in Europe and North America, both the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and local health experts have been sending stern warnings since last week on the high risk of local transmission from a surge in the number of imported cases in Hong Kong.

That this was not an isolated incident is even more concerning. In a separate development on Sunday, Hong Kong police seized a large quantity of chemicals, and bricks, among other things, at a Tseung Kwan O car park. Such items are commonly used by the rioters for their vandalism and attacks on the police. It is thought that the seized items were intended for use during a protest in the area several hours later.

The revival of violence comes at a particularly inopportune time and will add to the misery of those in Hong Kong who are struggling to make a living. The Hong Kong economy was already reeling from the months of rioting, and it is now facing additional pressure from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

It has been a double whammy for many Hong Kong residents. As such the renewed violence over the weekend shows the mindless selfishness of the rioters. Willing to not only deny law-abiding Hong Kong residents their right to make a living, they are clearly also willing to put lives at risk. The violent nature ingrained in the Hong Kong rioters is more disturbing than the coronavirus, since the virus is not aware of the harm it is inflicting.

According to a global survey from the Washington-based Heritage Foundation last week, Hong Kong lost its title as the world's freest economy to Singapore for the first time since 1995, thanks to the violence that erupted in June last year.

Hence, Hong Kong residents must rally around the SAR government and do whatever it takes to contain both the coronavirus disease and the city's imported political infection.

This is the only way to save Hong Kong's future.