Hong Kong people should reject violent radicalism

Social harmony and stability have been crucial to sustaining the social development and economic vitality of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. These are now at risk of being undermined by the controversies surrounding changes to the SAR's extradition laws.

This explains why Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor decided on Saturday to suspend the legislative process for amendments proposed by the SAR government to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance.

The unwarranted political wrangling and violent radicalism are harmful to Hong Kong, and will inflict serious damage not just on social stability but also the economy, as evidenced by the seriously adverse consequences of the "Occupy Central" in the autumn of 2014.