2016年CRI Beijing Official to HK, Local Officials Condemn Mong Kok Riot

 

Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Liaison¹ Office of the central government in Hong Kong, says he was shocked and saddened to learn about the Mong Kok riot. 

"We strongly condemn² those rioters who maliciously³ committed beatings, smashed property, committed arson⁴ and other violent crimes. We strongly condemn those radical⁵ separatists whose behaviors got more and more violent and even showed terror tendencies." 

The incident started late on February 8, after a handful of illegal street vendors⁶ refused to halt business in Mong Kok, a busy commercial district, and clashed with law enforcement officials.

Hundreds of rioters then arrived, attacking police officers and journalists, smashing police vehicles and committing arson.

The police were forced to fire two warning shots in a bid to rescue personnel.

Zhang Xiaoming says he believes the Hong Kong government can and will handle the criminal cases appropriately. 

In the meantime, he also dismissed remarks that attempt to whitewash⁷ the bloody⁸ violence.

He says people in Hong Kong have a consensus⁹ on the building of a peaceful society. 

"It is the largest consensus in Hong Kong that Hong Kong should never be "in chaos¹⁰'. They won't tolerate any radical minority separatists to ruin the most precious legal environment."

The remark was echoed by Hong Kong's chief executive CY Leung who said on Sunday that the rioters represent only a small segment of society.

"Of the people who have been arrested by police so far, the jobless constituted the majority, instead of middle school or university students. And a large number of them belong to radical political groups. Therefore, their political demands and violent means were not representative of the society, nor did they represent the majority." 

Leung also voiced support for the upgrading of police equipment and the reinforcement of manpower in response to the increasing violence lately. 

"The government is calling on the public, especially the political parties, not to make excuses for or attempt to rationalize the violence and the motivations behind it, let alone whitewashing¹¹ the rioters."

Nearly 100 people were injured during the confrontation¹². 

As of Saturday, police have arrested more than 60 suspects and 41 of them have been charged with rioting. 

For CRI, I'm Huang Yue.

1 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

2 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

3 maliciously   

adv.有敌意地

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His enemies maliciously conspired to ruin him. 他的敌人恶毒地密谋搞垮他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

5 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

6 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 whitewash   

v.粉刷，掩饰；n.石灰水，粉刷，掩饰

参考例句：

• They tried hard to whitewash themselves.他们力图粉饰自己。
• What he said was a load of whitewash.他所说的是一大堆粉饰之词。

8 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

9 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 whitewashing   

粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的现在分词 )； 喷浆

参考例句：

• Tom went on whitewashing the fence, paying no attention to Ben. 汤姆没有理睬本，继续在粉刷着篱笆。
• When whitewashing the wall, he painted with a roller in his hand. 刷墙的时候，他手里拿个辊子，挥舞着胳膊。

12 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。