A young man on Thursday was found guilty of trespassing in the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army Garrison in Hong Kong last year and sentenced to two weeks in prison, suspended for one year. The case has attracted considerable attention because of its political hue. Some of the suspects' supporters have been protesting outside the court. They are trying to use freedom of speech/expression as an excuse to justify criminal offenses. It is good the judiciary did not bow to this kind of political pressure and performed their duty to uphold the law.

The court decision can be seen as a fair warning to those who intend to commit similar offenses with human rights as an excuse. Hong Kong owes its success to the rule of law and cannot afford to abandon it for anything. Without the rule of law anyone can infringe upon other people's rights and interests in the name of some political cause. That is an insult to justice, not to mention the political causes in question.

In a separate development, the police on Thursday detained a teenager suspected of posting a guide for launching assaults on the Legislative Council (LegCo) building on the Internet. It was another response by the law enforcement department after the arrest of several protesters who caused damage to the LegCo building and injuries to security personnel who tried to stop them last Friday, when the suspects forced their way into the LegCo building in an attempt to interrupt the legislature's normal operations.

The violent protest was allegedly to warn the LegCo against approving the Northeast New Territories Development Plan, but by using illegal means the protest has lost any legitimacy it might have before. It is the latest example of such actions that have been on the rise in recent years, thanks to repeated offenses organized by the opposition camp and its radical faction in particular. An assault on the LegCo building is no different from one on a court or any other symbol of governance.

Hong Kong is advancing toward implementing universal suffrage. The opposition is trying to derail the progress by demanding unconstitutional methods of nomination in violation of the Basic Law and NPCSC decisions. Its radical faction has gone further by attempting to blackmail the central authorities and the SAR government with "Occupy Central". It is a criminal act of taking Hong Kong's economy and many people's well-being hostage for political ransom. Even the name of democracy will be tarnished, because the rule of law is an indispensable part of democracy. It is every Hong Kong citizen's responsibility to help maintain the rule of law. And no one has the right to undermine it for any reason.

(HK Edition 06/20/2014 page9)