Former DPP Backs Beijing Terrorism Claim

The former director of public prosecutions, Grenville Cross, says he agrees with the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office's assessment that anti-extradition protesters are showing the first signs of terrorism.

In an interview with the BBC, he pointed to the police discovery of a high-explosive at a factory in Tsuen Wan last month and the seizure of molotov cocktails from a factory unit in Fo Tan more recently. He also said there was a very high level of violence going on.

"There is obviously a real concern there and we've seen a lot of violence taking place," he said. "A police officer went up in flames in the Kowloon area of Hong Kong, after he'd been hit by a petrol bomb. He could well have died but fortunately his injuries weren't serious."

But also speaking to the BBC, pro-democracy activist and pop star Denise Ho claimed there was some doubt as to who was responsible.

"Well you have to know that we have absolutely been infiltrated by police officers so we don't know where these gas bombs and everything came from," she said.

Ho said there was a lot of speculation and propaganda everywhere. She said the majority were asking for the "One Country, Two Systems" model to be respected.

Ho said she personally only wanted the autonomy that had been promised by the late mainland paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.