'Xi's Thumbs Up May Lead To Tougher Police Actions'

The chairman of the Democratic Party Wu Chi-wai said on Tuesday that he fears President Xi Jinping's vote of confidence for Carrie Lam will only increase the level of force being used by the Hong Kong police.

"Since Carrie Lam gets the high degree of support from the central government, coming from Xi Jinping, we can imagine that the use of police force, the allowance of police brutality will be escalating in future," said Wu.

He said this will affect the status of Hong Kong as a major financial centre even if the authorities manage to solve the problems, as the civilian government will be in a "police state situation".

"That means the police can have all the power to influence the public policy in Hong Kong. That should not be the way Hong Kong should go on if the city wants be a part of the international community," he said.

Wu said the central government should realise that Hong Kong needs a political solution. "It all depends on the assessment of the central government whether they will consider the chaos in Hong Kong has to be resolved politically," said the opposition lawmaker.

He warned that the central government should try not replicate their approach in mainland cities as the situation in Hong Kong is different.

"The only experience they have in the mainland cities, they rely on police force, rely on police violence to crack down on demonstrators and calm down the situation. But Hong Kong is different," he said.

Wu told RTHK's Janice Wong that Hong Kong won't be able to continue as a global financial centre if it becomes a police state.