'HK youth not clever enough to be behind protests'

Exco member Ip Kwok-him says he doesn't think young people are smart enough to come up with the protest tactics used and their protective gear is just too good. Photo: RTHK

Executive councillor Ip Kwok-him said on Thursday that somebody must be masterminding the ongoing anti-government protests and the young people taking part are not smart enough to come up with some of their tactics themselves.



Ip, who is also a deputy to the National People’s Congress, said one of the clues indicating that foreign forces must be supporting the protesters is how well equipped they are with protective gear.



He urged the police to track down those “instigating and directing the unrest”.



Ip noted that following a protest at Revenue Tower in June, some protesters apologised to the public for the inconvenience caused. He said that young people here are not clever enough to have thought of doing something like that themselves, and it's evidence that someone is directing them from behind the scenes.



His comments are in stark contrast with the views of many analysts who describe the protests as a leaderless movement marked by spontaneous demonstrations.



On Wednesday, Ip attended a seminar jointly held by the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Zhang Xiaoming, and Beijing’s liaison office chief Wang Zhimin.



Ip quoted Zhang as saying that the SAR government and the police are still capable of handling the situation in Hong Kong, and he did not make clear under what circumstances the People’s Liberation Army could be deployed to help them.