Opinion | Hong Kong must pull back from the abyss and avoid a bloody ending or it may never recover

The worst crisis ever faced by Hong Kong is getting even worse day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. We are staring at a bottomless abyss into which we are about to fall, but we feel powerless to stop it. This is the time for the people to put aside our differences and, together, try to save what we can of our beloved hometown.

There is one thing we want and need: the immediate restoration of law and order, so we can all go back to a semblance of normal life. There should be zero tolerance for violence and intimidation in a civilised society. The law must apply to everyone, regardless of race, colour, creed, national origin, gender and shirt colour.

We must not condone behaviour reminiscent of the Red Guards during China’s Cultural Revolution or the Brownshirts of the Nazi Party in pre-World-War-II Germany.

There are two things the people of Hong Kong do not want to see. First, the continuing and escalating chaos, disruption of transport and other public services, and violence. And second, the possible intervention of the central government to restore order.

However, if the first is not stopped soon, it may easily lead to the second. And acts of vandalism against symbols of national sovereignty do not help. We are right on that verge now.

If that happens, it will “prove” that the “one country, two systems” formula does not work. It will also lead to international sanctions against China, including Hong Kong. Such a development will spell the end of Hong Kong as an international financial centre, as a logistics and trading hub, and as a tourist mecca.