Editor's note: Grenville Cross, a senior counsel and law professor, was previously the Director of Public Prosecutions of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily those of CGTN.

编者按：江乐士（Grenville Cross），英国资深律师兼法学教授，曾任中国香港特别行政区律政司刑事检控专员。这篇文章仅代表作者观点，不代表本台立场。

As the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) faces continuing unrest, it is being stoked not only by local fanatics, but also by outsiders who wish China harm. Former governor Chris Patten must, of course, bear some responsibility for the problems that have arisen.

由于香港当地的港独分子作乱，加上不怀好意的外国势力乘机推波助澜，导致香港特别行政区局势持续动荡。对于这些问题，前港督彭定康难辞其咎。

Never happier than when stirring things up, he has now ramped up his efforts. He has not only called for a commission of inquiry, but also for it to be given "an immediate remit to report on what happened in Yuen Long and at the end of the demonstration on Sunday."

他向来喜欢搅乱局势、颠倒黑白，近期他的行为可谓变本加厉。他不仅要求成立独立调查委员会，还要求“立即授权该委员会调查元朗周日的示威活动事件。”

Patten, of course, has conspicuously ignored the thorough police investigation into the Yuen Long MTR station attacks, which is already underway and has resulted so far in the arrest of 12 suspects.

彭定康显然忽略了警方对元朗地铁站袭击事件的彻查。其实调查已经在进行中，目前已拘捕12名嫌疑犯。

Patten's proxy, the former chief secretary, Anson Chan Fang On-sang, has, meanwhile, been mischievously calling for a commission of inquiry into police handling of the riot on June 12, when extremists, after attacking the police lines with metal rods and bricks, tried to storm the Legislative Council building.

与此同时，彭定康的代理人、前布政司司长陈方安生(Anson Chan Fang On-sang)戏谑地呼吁成立独立调查委员会，调查警方对6月12日暴乱的处理方式。事实上，当时是港独分子用铁棍和砖块袭击警察防线，并试图冲击立法会大楼。

Although Chan's call has been echoed by other gullible individuals, its purpose is misguided. It is not designed to establish what happened and why, but to distract attention from the excesses of the mobs, which provoked the confrontations in the first place.

尽管陈方安生的呼吁得到了一群被误导民众的响应，但这种提议其实醉翁之意不在酒。成立独立调查委员并不是为了查明事实真相，而是为了转移人们对暴徒滋事的注意力，正是这些暴徒首先挑起冲突。

The advocates of a commission, therefore, hope to place the police, rather than the aggressors, under suspicion. They want to weaken police morale and undermine their effectiveness at a crucial time, making it easier for the extremists to continue causing chaos.

因此，那些调查委员会的鼓吹者希望陷警方于不义，而非彻查袭击者的暴行。他们想在关键时刻削弱警察的士气，降低他们的工作效率，为港独分子寻衅滋事铺平道路。

A commission, quite clearly, is a distraction, intended to challenge the forces of law and order, and thereby weaken the rule of law.

很明显，这种调查委员会就是一个幌子，目的在于挑战法律权威，削弱法治。

Patten, of course, as a seasoned political operator, fully appreciates all this. Indeed, even before the current troubles began in June, he was engaging in scaremongering and trying, as always, to whip up anti-China sentiments.

当然，作为一个政坛老手，彭定康俨然一副作壁上观的态度。事实上，早在6月初混乱开始之际，他就一直危言耸听，不断煽动反华情绪。

He even recorded a video, which was widely distributed in Hong Kong, in which he misrepresented the purpose of the much-needed fugitive bill amendments, and sought to inflame the situation.

他甚至录制了一段在香港广为流传的视频，故意歪曲修例目的，并试图煽动混乱，使局势升级。

Patten claimed that the absence of fugitive arrangements between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland was a "firewall," but this is absurd. Far from being a firewall, the current vacuum has been a godsend for criminals from all over China, and elsewhere, who have obtained safe haven in Hong Kong.

彭定康声称，香港与中国内地之间缺乏逃犯引渡条例实际是一道“防火墙”，但这种说法极其荒谬。缺乏引渡条例绝非防火墙，而是给国内外的犯罪分子逃避法律制裁的机会，让他们将香港作为避风港。

The presence of large numbers of fugitive offenders is not only shameful for Hong Kong, but an affront to our criminal justice partners around the world, who look to us for the return of their criminal suspects.

大量逃犯聚集香港，这不仅对香港是一种耻辱，也是对世界各地刑事司法伙伴的侮辱，因为他们都希望我们能将他们的犯罪嫌疑人遣返。

Thanks to Patten, Chan and their allies, Hong Kong is now Asia's weak link in global efforts to combat transnational crime.

在打击全球跨国犯罪方面，由于彭定康、陈方安生及其党羽从中作梗，香港成了整个亚洲较弱的一环。

It is little wonder, therefore, that the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Hua Chunying has called on Patten to "shut up and back down." As she rightly pointed out, when calling for a commission, Patten "chose to turn a blind eye and avoid talking about the riots, striking at the foundation of the rule of law in Hong Kong."

因此也难怪中国外交部发言人华春莹会敦促彭定康“闭嘴、收手”。正如她正确地指出，彭定康在要求成立独立调查委员会时，“避而不谈这些冲击香港法治根基的事件，选择性地失明，选择性地发声，真实意图昭然若揭”。

Patten, as always, has been highly selective, hoping to make political capital out of the situation. He has arbitrarily focused on particular incidents, to the exclusion of others, disregarding the wider picture.

彭定康的行为一如既往地具有高度偏向性，希望从这种局面中捞取政治资本。他有意吸引人们的注意力至特定事件上，忽视其他事件，无视大局。

Although he wants the Yuen Long incident to be investigated by a commission, he has not called for anything similar following the discovery of a terrorist arsenal in Tsuen Wan. Neither has he proposed an inquiry into the smashing up of the legislature, let alone into the mayhem in Sheung Shui, Shatin, and Yuen Long, where armed mobs attacked police and terrorized locals and mainlanders alike. One does not need to be a genius to know why.

一方面他希望成立委员会调查元朗暴力事件；而另一方面，在荃湾发现恐怖分子军火库后，他并没有要求进行类似的调查。他也没有提议对冲击立法会的活动进行调查，更不用说调查上水、沙田和元朗的暴乱。在这些地点，武装暴徒袭击警察，恐吓当地民众和大陆同胞。这可谓司马昭之心路人皆知。

However, notwithstanding his obvious bias, Patten's call has now been echoed by the naive. A faction of radicalized lawyers, for example, grandly describing themselves as "the Hong Kong Legal Profession," issued a statement, regurgitating Patten's demand. They also bizarrely threatened the HKSAR government with the private prosecution of senior police officers, if it does not buckle to their demands.

然而，尽管彭定康的行为具有明显偏向性，但他的呼吁却得到了无知人士的响应。 例如，一群标榜自己是“香港法律界”代表的激进律师发表联合声明，重申了彭定康的要求。他们还莫名其妙地威胁香港特区政府称，如果不答应他们的要求，他们将对高级警官进行自诉。

No lawyer worth his salt would lend his name to such demands, not least because, even if private prosecutions of that sort were legally viable, which they are not, they would be nipped in the bud as an abuse of process, if not by the department of justice, then by the courts.

没有一个称职的律师会支持这种要求，即使这种自诉在法律上是可行的，也会被律政司和法院因滥用程序而扼杀在萌芽状态，何况这种自诉在法律上也缺乏基础。

This apart, the statement's initiators are not serious players. Indeed, one prominent signatory was none other than the Civic Party's former chairman, Alan Leong Kah-kit. Leong's most notable contribution to solving our current difficulties was to tell Hong Kong University students in mid-July that "violence may sometimes be a solution to the problem."

此外，声明的发起人都不是什么重要人物。事实上，唯一一个比较有分量的签字人是公民党前主席梁家杰（Alan Leong Kah-kit）。讽刺的是，对解决当前困局，他的办法就是在七月中旬告诉港大学生，“暴力有时可能是解决问题的方法。”

Another signatory was Civic Party legislator, Dennis Kwok Wing-hang. Kwok, on his now notorious visit to Washington DC in March, cozied up to every sinophobe in sight, hoping for their support. He then delighted his hosts by bad-mouthing not only the HKSAR government, but also the central authorities.

另一名签字人是公民党议员郭荣铿（Dennis Kwok Wing-hang）。在3月份臭名昭著的华盛顿之行中，他每遇到一个反华分子，便巴结讨好，希望得到他们的支持。他不仅批评香港政府，还说中央政府的坏话，让结东道国之欢心。

The Civic Party itself has exercised no leadership in the crisis, and its attempts to curry favor with the fanatics have served only to expose its moral bankruptcy. The likes of Patten, Chan, Leong, and Kwok clearly have nothing constructive to offer Hong Kong, and are only interested in promoting disharmony.

公民党本身在这场危机中没有发挥任何领导作用，其讨好港独分子的行径暴露其毫无道德良知。彭定康、陈方安生、梁家杰和郭荣铿之流显然对香港没有任何建设性的作为，只是一味地挑起事端、制造混乱。

No concessions of any sort must be made to them, let alone to the armed thugs who are regularly attacking the police and causing havoc throughout Hong Kong. The HKSAR government must provide the police with every possible support, and do whatever it takes to bring an end to the insurrection.

我们绝不能向他们做出任何妥协，更不可能向袭警和捣乱的武装暴徒妥协。香港特区政府必须向警方提供一切可能的支持，并尽一切努力平息叛乱。

After all, the police are the true heroes of this crisis. They have repeatedly put their lives in danger in defense of Hong Kong, often without the plaudits they deserve.

毕竟，这场危机中警察才是真正的英雄。他们一再冒着生命危险保卫香港，却往往得不到应有的表扬。

If there were to be any inquiry, it would need to focus on who organized the riots, which groups are financing the disruption, and the extent to which local activists have colluded with foreign agencies to destabilize Hong Kong. The answers, however, would not be hard to find.

如果要开展调查，就必须首先查明幕后主使，暴徒的资金来源，以及内外勾结破坏香港稳定的恶行。答案其实并不难得出。

The HKSAR government must hold its nerve, resist unreasonable demands, and protect Hong Kong from those who do not wish it well.

香港特区政府必须鼓起勇气，拒绝无理要求，保护香港免受不良分子的侵害。