HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s embattled government emerged early on Tuesday morning (July 2), condemning the violent takeover of the city’s legislature by mostly young protesters, and vowing to go after those who trashed the building and fled before riot police moved in.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said at a 4am press conference she was angry and saddened by the violence and chaos. “I am very outraged and distressed and I strongly condemn it,” she said.

Mrs Lam said she had reflected on the unprecedented events on the July 1 anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule, and was willing to communicate with all sectors including the city’s youth.

“We have seen two entirely different public scenes. One is a regular march on July 1. Regardless of the number of participants in the march, the march was peaceful and generally orderly. This fully reflects the inclusiveness of Hong Kong society, and the core values we attach to peace and order,” Mrs Lam said at police headquarters.

“The second scene, which really saddens and shocks a lot of people, is the extreme use of violence and vandalism by protesters who stormed into the Legislative Council building. This is something that we should seriously condemn, because nothing is more important than the rule of law in Hong Kong.”

She said the government would “pursue the lawbreaking behaviour to the end”.

A grim-faced Mrs Lam, who was joined by her No 2, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu and Commissioner of Police Stephen Lo Wai-chung, said she hoped the community at large agreed the violent acts should be condemned, and society would return to normal as soon as possible.

For several hours on Monday, the Legislative Council building in Admiralty witnessed an assault unprecedented in size and intensity, as hundreds of mostly young protesters demanding the complete withdrawal of the government’s now-suspended extradition bill attacked the glass front with makeshift battering rams.

Riot police stood by inside the building throughout the day while the crowd went on the rampage outside, and were nowhere to be seen when the protesters finally forced their way inside at night and vandalised the chamber.

Mrs Lam said it was not true that the government had not responded to the demands of those protesting against the bill, which would have allowed the transfer of suspects to jurisdictions with which Hong Kong did not have an extradition agreement, including mainland China.

“We have not responded to every demand because of good reasons,” she said.

“The bill will expire, or the bill will die, in July 2020 when the current Legco term expires. That is a very positive response to the demands we have heard.”

Mr Lee said the protesters who stormed the building had broken several laws, including forcible entry under the Public Order Ordinance, possession of offensive weapons and possession of instruments fit for unlawful purposes under the Crimes Ordinance, and unauthorised entry under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance.

The violence, perpetrated by mostly masked youths wearing helmets, was on a scale that stunned the city. Thirteen police officers were taken to hospital after they were splashed with an unidentified liquid, believed to be drain cleaner, during clashes around the city’s legislative and administrative centre.

“Over the past few days we’ve seen that there are a number of people who are prone to violence in society and will use harmful fluids or toxic powder to attack others” Mr Lee said.

“If these people blend into any public events, they will pose huge risks.”

Mr Lo rejected the notion that police had withdrawn from the legislature too easily, to play games for public support and set a trap for protesters.

He said police had “no choice” but to retreat temporarily and rearrange their strategy. He stressed that his officers had been defending the building for nearly eight hours and repeatedly criticised the “violent tactics to try and intrude into Legco”.

He mentioned several incidents that prompted police to retreat before taking back the trashed building shortly before 1am.

Mr Lo said there were many protesters outside the main entrance and they were using violent tactics to smash the inner door. Also, the local environment made it difficult to use the force that could be used on open ground.

“And thirdly, we found there were protesters playing with the electricity box and that some of the lights had gone out. Fearing a total blackout, I was afraid there would be people stamping on people or maybe there would be a wrong move on either side,” he said.

“And last but not least, during charges, they threw some white smoke. There had already been a toxic powder attack on my officers, so without knowing if this was another toxic powder attack, we had no other choice but to temporarily retreat from Legco.”

The shocking scenes at the legislature came as hundreds of thousands marched peacefully on the streets in the afternoon under the broader umbrella of the annual July 1 mass rally, when Hongkongers traditionally come out in force to air their grievances against the government.

The radicals used a cage trolley and metal poles to repeatedly ram the legislature’s glass front, manhandling a handful of opposition lawmakers who had supported their protests so far but were trying to stop the violence.

They smashed open the glass door at a side entrance and were pepper-sprayed through the breach by officers inside, who had to put on heavy-duty masks at one stage as an unknown powder flung at them set off acrid fumes. It was later identified as lime. Others dismantled metal fencing outside Legco, stripping away and carrying off the long poles that stood as barriers.

The utter chaos prompted the Legco Secretariat to issue a red alert for the first time, evacuating the building of all non-essential staff.

At 9pm, hundreds of protesters swarmed into the legislature, vandalising the premises and tearing down portraits of the city’s political leaders. They broke into the main chamber, spraying slogans on the walls, covering Hong Kong’s official emblem with black paint and draping a British colonial flag over the Legco president’s podium.

It was after midnight when hundreds of riot police left their headquarters in Wan Chai to swoop into action. By that time, the last of the diehard protesters remaining in the chamber had left the building.

In the aftermath of the protest, Admiralty was left in disarray, with the streets littered with helmets, umbrellas, and cardboard that had been used as makeshift shields.

On Tuesday morning at about 7am, traffic returned to normal on Harcourt Road, one of the main arteries running through the city’s business district. Although Lung Wui Road remained closed, as did the eastbound lane of Expo Drive in Wan Chai

Cleaners picked up rubbish left on the streets with a crane lorry, and with no protesters in sight, only a few police officers stood guard.

Government headquarters was closed temporarily for security reasons, which forced thousands of civil servants to work elsewhere.

Two panel meetings at Legco scheduled for the afternoon, were also cancelled. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST