A former NBA All-Star has openly supported Hong Kong police to crack down on anti-government protesters in a trending video as violence in the Chinese-ruled city spirals.

James Donaldson, a 7'2" ex-centre, claimed that American police 'would shoot to kill' if chaos like this happens in the United States.

The former player in the 1988 All-Star team accused Houston Rocket's general manager Daryl Morey of sending a 'crazy' and 'ridiculous' tweet to support the movement before claiming 'the vast majority of Americans are totally ignorant about the ways of the world'.

He claimed that young people were unaware of the fact that everything of Hong Kong was given by China.

James Donaldson served several NBA clubs, including Seattle SuperSonics, San Diego Clippers, Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks during his career in the 1980s and 1990s. His pro-China speech about Hong Kong has gone viral after being featured by Chinese state media

He said: 'The vast majority of Americans are totally ignorant about the ways of the world'

The two-minute-long interview has gone viral in China after the country's state media spotted it on YouTube and reported about it.

It emerged after a student activist on Monday was shot with a live round by police at close range while trying to grab the officer's gun and a 57-year-old man was set on fire by protesters during an argument. Both victims survived.

It also came after police said Hong Kong was on the 'brink of total breakdown' and Beijing's representative office in the city urged a tougher clampdown.

Mr Donaldson, 62, made the statements during a recent trip to the Asian financial hub, the video shows.

Flaming arrow: A masked protester prepares to fire their bow and arrow on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in the early hours of this morning, as clashes took place across numerous universities in the Asian financial capital. Unrest escalated on Monday

Detained: A man is pinned to the ground by riot police wearing helmets in the centre of Hong Kong today as demonstrators blocked roads and occupied the city for a third day running

Speaking in an interview, the retired English-American athlete first praised Hong Kong for 'being a role model for all these kind of great things'.

While being asked about Morey's tweet, Mr Donaldson said 'this is the Houston Rockets general manager who tweeted out some crazy, ridiculous statement about standing with Hong Kong'.

'But it just shows the total ignorance of most Americans. The vast majority of Americans are totally ignorant about the ways of the world,' he added.

Mr Donaldson was then asked to watch a video, which was believed to be of a police officer being stabbed in the neck by a hard-line activist.

The sergeant was slashed by a box cutter during clashes on October 13. He is likely to suffer permanent damage to his voice.

'If this happened in America, the police would shoot to kill,' said Mr Donaldson.

He added that he wished Morey would see this and reflect on his tweet.

'I did not intend my tweet to cause any offence to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China,' Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey (pictured) tweeted as he apologised to Beijing

Morey's initial tweet included an image captioned: 'Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong'

'Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong' is one of the slogans used by anti-government activists in Hong Kong. The city has been rocked by mass street protests for five months

Mr Donaldson then took on CNN for not showing violence from the demonstrators to American people.

'No countries in the world would put up with this kind of insanity. They would all crack down on it and take order back in the business,' he added.

'This is what the Hong Kong police need to do.'

Mr Donaldson wrapped up the interview by claiming that China 'does everything' for Hong Kong.

'The young people today don't understand that China...[they] give them (Hong Kong) water, they give them electricity and they do everything.'

He said the young people in Hong Kong lived under the illusion that the Americans and British 'will take care of them'.

'The Americans and British cannot do anything for Hong Kong any more. Hong Kong belongs to China,' the man concluded.

A Hong Kong police officer (pictured opening fire) shot at masked protesters on Monday morning - hitting at least one in the torso - during clashes broadcast live on Facebook

Horrifying footage showed this man being splashed with petrol and set on fire in a walkway on Monday after remonstrating with Hong Kong protesters and telling them 'you are not Chinese'

Hong Kong has been rocked by a series of anti-government protests for more than five months.

The demonstrations were initially sparked by a proposed law that would allow some criminal suspects to be sent to the mainland China to stand trial.

The rallies have morphed into a wider pro-democracy movement that calls for government reforms and universal suffrage, among others.

The NBA last month faced a major backlash after Houston Rocket's general manager Morey posted an image captioned 'Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong' on Twitter in a move that enraged China.

Adam Silver, the Commissioner of the NBA, backed Mr Morey's initial tweet and promised to protect his employees' right to free speech - remarks that further infuriated Beijing.

China's state broadcaster then announced it would stop showing NBA pre-season games before more than a dozen Chinese companies pulled out their sponsorship to the league.

Tensions in Hong Kong intensified this week when demonstrators took to the streets to hold vigils for a 22-year-old student who died after falling from a parking garage near the site of clashes.

China has responded to the escalation of unrest with ominous warnings that it is prepared to further curb freedoms, and that it wants tougher security measures in Hong Kong.