- Agency calls for city's administration and police to use all necessary measures to restore order
- It has called on the Hong Kong Government to do everything in its power to end the unrest and 'arrest the criminals and severely punish their violent acts'
Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong says the city is "sliding into the abyss of terrorism" and a harsher crackdown is needed to end the unrest and restore order.
The warning comes as the financial hub reels from some of the worst violence since massive anti-government protests started five months ago, as the number of protesters arrested since Monday surpassed that of the whole previous week.
This week, a protester was shot by police, a man was set on fire, roads were blocked and university campuses turned into battlegrounds.
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As the Hong Kong government struggles to calm the public and stop the violence, Beijing has again thrown its weight behind the city's administration and police force, urging them to take tougher action.
In a statement late Tuesday, the liaison office said it "resolutely supports the Hong Kong government in adopting every necessary measure to end the unrest and restore order as soon as possible, arrest the criminals and severely punish their violent acts".
It called on the Hong Kong government, police and judiciary to "decisively adopt all necessary means to forcefully crack down on various acts of violence and terrorism".
In August, after a weekend of violent clashes between police and protesters, Beijing's top office on Hong Kong policy, the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), warned that protesters were showing "signs of terrorism" by "repeatedly attacking police with highly dangerous tools" such as petrol bombs.
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The liaison office also warned at the time that "if these terrorist atrocities were allowed to spread, Hong Kong would slide into a bottomless abyss".
Two days later, the HKMAO strongly condemned attacks against a mainland reporter at Hong Kong's airport, calling them "near-terrorist acts".
On Tuesday night, the HKMAO also strongly condemned the "appalling, inhuman" torching of a 57-year-old after an argument with protesters.
It called for Hong Kong authorities to launch a harsher crackdown to end the turmoil.
"We resolutely support the Hong Kong SAR government, police force and judiciary to adopt more forceful, bolder and more effective actions to severely punish illegal and criminal acts, to stop unrest and restore order," it said.
State news agency Xinhua said in a commentary on Wednesday that Hong Kong was running out of time to take self-corrective measures.
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