People from all walks of life in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have condemned the violent acts by some radical protesters who insulted and defaced the national emblem days ago.
Jack Wong, a student from the City University of Hong Kong, said the violent and extreme acts did not come accidently but were maliciously planned.
"The political environment and public security in Hong Kong have been deteriorating these days, with some reckless students instigated to take part in violent activities," Wong said.
"But most students in Hong Kong have a cherished desire for a stable environment for living and learning."
Wong called on those youth who love the motherland and Hong Kong to unite and express their ideas in a rational and peaceful way.
"The youth hold the future of Hong Kong. It is so sad that some young people in Hong Kong are embroiled in endless violence," Wong said.
Hazel Liu from independent media said some young people in Hong Kong have crossed the line in protests and some media should be blamed for it.
Acts of breaking the law and principle "have been glorified" by certain media which has fueled and escalated the violence in Hong Kong, with some protesters avowedly attacking the policemen on duty. It is a sickness of the society, Liu said.
"Storming the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, defacing the national emblem and painting words to insult the nation are all too sad and they should not have happened in Hong Kong," she said. "We should condemn all the violent acts."
Young people in Hong Kong do not have enough understanding of their own living environment and the history of Hong Kong because the Chinese history is not a compulsory course in Hong Kong's middle school, according to Liu.
"If we do not want to let the history repeat itself, we should first have a clear understanding of the historical context," she added.
The recent extreme and violent acts have seriously undermined the foundation of the rule of law and the order of the society in Hong Kong, So Ka Lok, a community service worker said.
He expressed his strongest indignation at the defacing of the national emblem by the radicals.
"Their behaviors have trampled on national dignity and constituted a serious insult not only to the nearly 1.4 billion Chinese people, but also to those who have sacrificed their lives to defend the country and all overseas Chinese," he said.
He urged his fellow citizens to cherish the hard-won prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and not do anything detrimental to its stability and prosperity at the instigation of the external forces.
Cayden, a 30-year-old local citizen, and his friends also considered the behaviors of storming the liaison office building and defacing the national emblem as radical and unacceptable, noting that the central government has always cared for Hong Kong since it returned to the motherland.
The central government is the biggest support for Hong Kong's stability and prosperity, he said, adding "if there's no such support, Hong Kong's economy will surely lose its shine."
Tang, who was born and raised in Hong Kong's New Territories, said local residents have the tradition of loving the country, loving Hong Kong and loving their villages.
He said the acts of defacing the national emblem were unacceptable, and most Hong Kong people believed such acts have crossed the line.
The national emblem is sacred and inviolable, and the dignity of the country can never be desecrated, said another Hong Kong resident Alice Wong.
She said defacing the national emblem was absolutely unacceptable in the Hong Kong society, and many of her friends and colleagues were indignant at such acts.
These radical protesters have become rioters, who, if not brought to justice, would put the Hong Kong people and the law and order here at risk, she added.
