HONG KONG, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The government of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in early morning of Monday condemned violent acts of protesters occurring on Sunday.
Some protesters on Sunday even hurled petrol bombs at police, causing injuries of a police officer.
In unlawful assemblies in various districts, violent protesters vandalized public property, blocked roads, besieged police stations, aimed laser beams toward police officer and also hurled bricks to attack them, a spokesperson of the HKSAR government said in a statement.
"We are outraged by the violent protesters' behaviors which showed a total disregard of the law, posing a serious threat to the safety of police officers and other members of the public," the spokesperson said. "We severely condemn the acts."
Due to the persistent and large-scale illegal and violent acts, some public facilities were closed early and emergency services and commercial activities were obstructed, the spokesperson said, stressing that the right of ordinary people to carry on their daily lives was deprived.
"We appeal to all members of the public to say no to violence to help the community to restore order as soon as possible," the spokesperson said. "The police will enforce the law strictly and resolutely to bring illegal protesters to justice."
Protests were held on Sunday in multiple locations in Hong Kong despite police ban.
Rioters attacked police stations in several places including Cheung Sha Wan, Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai, hurling petrol bombs and aiming laser beams toward police personnel. A police officer in Tsim Sha Tsui was seriously burnt on duty.
While visiting the injured officer, Hong Kong's Commissioner of Police Lo Wai-chung condemned the illegal violent acts, saying he was saddened by his colleague's injury and indignant at the rioters' violent acts that "disregarded others' safety."
Lo also vowed to spare no effort to investigate and punish any violent acts that cause serious injuries or threaten the lives of others.
