Repression begets violence and more violence. Hong Kong must give peace and reconciliation a chance

Having suppressed dissent in multiple ways, the government is now living with the consequences. If issues can’t be discussed openly, they will be discussed in the echo chambers of social media, and radical solutions will be sought

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Kerry Kennedy

Kerry Kennedy is professor emeritus and adviser (academic development) at The Education University of Hong Kong.

Published: 4:05pm, 23 Jul 2019Updated: 8:34pm, 23 Jul 2019

The peaceful efforts of hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers dissipate quickly, with the eruptions of violence that now inevitably follow. What’s more, it is no longer a question of whether protesters or police are using violence. The attacks in Yuen Long on Sunday make clear that violence as a tactic can be used by anyone. When violence is the norm, when it is legitimated as a political tactic, it cannot be controlled.

The protesters have tried to pin the violence on the police alone, to the point of coming down hard on the University of Hong Kong vice-chancellor for issuing a statement about protester violence. The reality, however, is that there is violence on both sides, and now from within the community too. Violence has been legitimated as a political tool, to the extent that lethal explosives have been unearthed in Tsuen Wan. There are no innocents here – violence begets violence.

Hong Kong is not unique in this regard. Social movements often have to address the issue of using violence as a means to achieve political goals. Some, such as those led by Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, avoided violence and practised civil disobedience – disobeying the law and accepting the consequences of doing so.