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Hong Kong's Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok said on Saturday that it is wrong to use the term "Fishball Revolution" to justify the mob violence in Mong Kok during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Lai told the media on Saturday that the word "fishball" is misplaced as it implies hawkers were selling food and the government took enforcement action against them.
Lai said the fact is Food & Environmental Hygiene Department officers were patrolling the area near close to the location where the unrest started and were not taking any enforcement action.
The officers were then surrounded by a group of more than 50 people and that's why they then asked for police assistance, said the official.
Lai said the government's position is clear that this is a case of violence and it must take all possible legal action to apprehend the culprits and bring them to court.
Tsang Yok-sing, president of Hong Kong's Legislative Council, said people should not resort to violence even though they are dissatisfied with the government, and violence is not acceptable to the great majority of the society.
Cheung Chi-kong, a member of Hong Kong's Executive Council, said he was shocked and upset over the Mong Kok riot, reckoning hawking was not the most controversial issue but an excuse for violence.
Looking for excuses to justify the riot is not helping the rioters but driving them over another edge, Cheung said, urging people to rethink what will happen next following the violent scenes in Mong Kok.
Following the riot, which happened on Feb. 8 to Feb. 9, with more than 100 people injured, local media strongly condemned the incident and unveiled the rioters' act of defiance.
A number of social groups expressed their concern over the riot, stating their stance that the breach of law and order is intolerable.
Heads of Hong Kong's disciplinary forces released a joint statement on Friday to condemn the riot and show support to the police.
As of Saturday, the police have arrested more than 60 suspects and 40 of them have been charged with riot.
