As Hong Kong cleaned up after a general strike that splintered into a night of violent clashes between police and protesters, a Chinese government official warned opponents on Tuesday that "those who play with fire will perish by it."

Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Chinese government's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, told reporters that Hong Kong protesters had abused their right to assemble and warned that China would not permit the semi-autonomous territory to challenge Chinese sovereignty.

He also criticized the protesters' frequent chants and graffiti tags quoting Edward Leung, an imprisoned former legislative candidate who once advocated for the city's independence from China, saying: "Liberate Hong Kong! Revolution of our time."

In that statement, Yang echoed the remarks of Carrie Lam, the city's chief executive, who said a day earlier that the protesters' "actions challenged national sovereignty," and threatened Hong Kong's separate rights, an arrangement with China known as "one country, two systems."

Protesters appear to be undeterred.  Three young people wearing black masks and construction helmets appeared at a news conference Tuesday and asserted that the pursuit of democracy was "the inalienable right of the people."

Source : VOA