Hong Kong protesters must see reason and stop chaos

There comes a time when an administration has to say, enough is enough.

It is such a time for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, which had been trying to make the demonstrators realize that violence and holding the city and its residents to ransom will not lead them anywhere.

Hong Kong police swung into action on Thursday, and within 24 hours, arrested Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Agnes Chow Ting and Andy Chan Ho-tin, three leaders of Hong Kong separatist groups, and lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai for indulging in criminal activities for the past three months. By so doing, the city's police have sent a clear message: lawbreakers and violent demonstrators, be they locals or foreign nationals, cannot walk free. To tighten the screw on the demonstrators, the SAR government has also banned a planned rally by the separatists on Saturday.