Severe warning issued by Beijing to protesters in Hong Kong: "Whoever plays with fire dies burned"

Beijing launched this Tuesday his hardest warning Until now, protesters in Hong Kong have contested the communist regime for two months. From the Chinese central government, they urged them to Do not underestimate your "immense power".

"This should be very clear for the small group of violent criminals and unscrupulous: whoever plays with fire dies burned "Yang Yang, spokesman for the business office in Hong Kong and Macau, said at a press conference.

A day after a chaos day in the megalopolises of southern China, with a general strike and disruptions in the means of transport, which ended with 148 inmates The power of Beijing set the tone in the hope of convincing pro-democracy protesters to return home.

"Never underestimate the strong determination and immense power of the central government," said Yang, who again accused a group of militants of being the cause of the riots. "In the end they will be punished"he insisted.

Almost at the same time, protesters spoke for the first time to the press in Hong Kong to "counterbalance the government's monopoly on the political discourse on this issue".

With a mask on his face, a black t-shirt and a yellow worker helmet, emblematic clothing of the demonstrations, three members of the pro-democracy movement, who has no leader for fear of reprisals, said that they had given this press conference "for the people, for the people".

"We ask the government to empower the people and respond to the demands of the citizens of Hong Kong, "they said in statements in English and Cantonese.

The Beijing warning is the strongest since the start of the demonstration in early June against the draft law allowing extraditions to China.

This project was withdrawn, but protesters continue to demand its final withdrawal as well as the resignation of local leader Carrie Lam.

Yang reaffirmed Beijing's support for Lam and the Hong Kong police in suppressing protests. The Chinese government, which does not tolerate protests in mainland China, has refused to intervene in Hong Kong for now.

Seven events

Under the retrocession agreement signed with the United Kingdom in 1984, the British excolonia continues to enjoy non-existent freedoms on the continent.

But the protesters fear a decrease in these freedoms before the growing influence of Chinese power in the megalopolis of 7 million inhabitants. In theory, the Chinese army, which has a garrison of several thousand men in Hong Kong, should not interfere in the affairs of the territory.

But the garrison commander recalled last week that the law allowed him to intervene to restore order, at the request of local authorities. Such an intervention would rekindle the ghost of repression of demonstrations of the "Beijing Spring" of 1989, which left hundreds, even thousands of dead. It could also cause a financial disaster in one of the largest places in Asia.

Monday afternoon, after convening a meeting general strikeThey had a placer seven simultaneous events. A challenge for the security forces, after two months of demonstrations, that used tear gas in at least four different places, including near the local parliament.

After the riots on the weekend, protesters descended on rush hour Monday at several key stations on the transportation network to block the subway and prevent trains from leaving.

Authorities said they have launched more than 1,000 tear gas and 160 rubber bullets since the movement began on 9 June.