Pan-dems Are 'beautifying Violence' Say Rivals

Pro-establishment legislators issued a joint statement on Monday accusing their pro-democracy rivals of "encouragement, tolerance and beautification" of violence since the city's unrest broke out last June.

The convenor of the pro-government camp, Martin Liao, noted that teenagers in Hong Kong are now being charged with murder, as well as possessing various weapons and even bombs.

"These are very serious crimes and this is extreme violence," he said.

"We are here to reprimand the pan-dem legislators for the encouragement and tolerance and the refusal to condemn violence in the past few months. That has, to some extent, contributed to this scenario," he said.

The camp didn't give any specific examples, but Liao said there had been too many incidents to list.

He said at the moment, they will go no further than issuing this statement of condemnation.

In response, Democratic Party lawmaker Andrew Wan accused the pro-government legislators of turning a blind eye to "police brutality" aimed at protesters, journalists and district councillors.

"In the past 23 years, this group of people, I mean the pro-government camp, have put Hong Kong in a worse situation and they do not feel any shame," he said.

"They come out to criticise the Hong Kong people for fighting back. I'm really stunned and I'm very angry by the statement they made."