China has said the lack of tough security laws in Hong Kong is a key reason for months of increasingly violent pro-democracy demonstrations and that the enactment of such legislation is an “urgent task”.

The call — likely to further inflame protesters angry with a police response seen as heavy-handed — came in a lengthy statement issued late Saturday by the head of the Chinese government department that oversees Hong Kong.

The statement by Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, acknowledged that governance in the semi-autonomous city must be improved, saying factors such as high housing costs and a growing wealth gap had contributed to the unrest.

Source: AFP