Chinese State Media Warns of Intervention as Hong Kong Protests Turn Violent

In the wake of violent clashes in Hong Kong on Sunday, during which a live gunshot was fired for the first time since protests began in early June, Chinese state media used its harshest rhetoric yet to condemn the unrest and warned that Beijing could soon intervene.

The 12th straight weekend of protests in the semiautonomous enclave took a dangerous turn when police deployed water cannons and one officer fired a gun into the air to disperse protesters, who hurled bricks and petrol bombs at officers in the New Territories district of Tsuen Wan.

The Hong Kong government confirmed that six police officers drew their pistols to fend off protesters attacking them, with one of the officers firing a warning shot into the air. At a press conference on Monday, the police force justified the warning shot, saying their “officers’ lives were in great danger” and that their use of force was “necessary and reasonable.” The use of live ammunition is extremely rare in Hong Kong.

Following the clashes, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency published a commentary asserting that Beijing has the authority and the responsibility to step in and quell the unrest. “If riots happen, the central government has to intervene,” Xinhua said, drawing on historic comments from China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.