A mob of rioters vandalise and terrorise Hong Kong, threatening violence to law enforcement officers, but it is the police who must attempt conversation over tea, begging the thugs to desist in their disorderly conduct. I guess the only response the police ought to make, in the face of petrol bombs being flung at them and half of Hong Kong burning, is to allow the rioters unfettered access to all of the civic infrastructure for them to destroy. If the civic leaders and the police force displayed less restraint and professionalism, Hong Kong would have been under emergency regulations ordinance already.

Carry Lam has made mistakes and ought to be removed, following reestablishment of social order in Hong Kong. Her mistake is not securing assent of the Hong Kong elites for the extradition proposal, prior to submitting it to the assembly. She authored the proposal without any direction or consent from the central government in Beijing, thereby allowing anti-Xi factions to capitalise on current social turmoil. Worst of all, she capitulated to the demands of the rioters, while Hong Kong was in sociopolitical disarray. As expected, having "won" their demand, the malcontents demand even more consessions from the civic government. Capitulate to the so-called Five Demands, then the muck will demand Ten Demands, followed by Twenty Demands. Will they next demand the sun not to shine and the moom not to rise?