By Muhammad Mussa
LONDON (AA) - The European Union on Monday called for restraint and dialogue to find a solution to the Hong Kong crisis, as demonstrators stormed the parliament building.
“In the wake of these latest incidents, it is all the more important to exercise restraint, avoiding escalatory responses, and to engage in dialogue and consultation to find a way forward,” the EU said in a statement.
Hong Kong -- an autonomous territory, and former British colony, in southeastern China -- has been wracked by weeks of protests, over a government attempt to change extradition laws, to allow suspects to be sent to Beijing to face trial.
“The actions today of a small number of people, who attempted to force their way into the Legislative Council premises, are not representative of the vast majority of demonstrators, who have been peaceful, throughout successive protests,” the EU statement added.
Hundreds of protesters broke into the legislative building and sprayed graffiti on its walls and raised the former British colonial flag. They spent hours breaking down the reinforced glass walls. Once inside they defaced the portraits of former legislators and sprayed graffiti on government emblems.
British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt also urged the protesters to restrain themselves and demonstrate within the confines of the law. Hunt reiterated his support for the demonstrations, but called on the protesters to be peaceful.
“Away from campaigning want to stress U.K. support for Hong Kong and its freedoms is UNWAVERING on this anniversary day,” Hunt said in a post on Twitter. He added: “No violence is acceptable but HK people MUST preserve right to peaceful protest exercised within the law, as hundreds of thousands of brave people showed today.”
The violent action by a group prompted organizers of a separate peaceful march, to change the endpoint of their protest from the legislature to a nearby park. Half a million people peacefully marched throughout the city on Monday. The march coincided the 22nd anniversary of the territory’s handover to China by the U.K.
The demonstrations were believed to be the largest, since the 2014 umbrella movement in which protesters used umbrellas against the security forces.
Hong Kongers argue that the proposed bill will be used by authorities to target political enemies and erode democratic rights, unique to their city.
The U.K. relinquished control over Hong Kong in 1997 and handed the semi-autonomous city to China. As part of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the city is governed through a dual system in which the local government decides local policies, while foreign and defense policies are decided by China.