Board member of United Nations Association of China, also a former member of Hong Kong's district council, Nixie Lam told the UN Human Rights Council on Friday that Hong Kong cannot be taken away twice by violence, defending the implementation of the new national security law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Lam said Hong Kong is a highly autonomous region of China, not an independent state. Hong Kong was taken away from China by colonization forces and violence, and it returned to China in 1997 peacefully, she noted.

We all learned that violence and invasion are never the answer, she added.

2019 was a heartbreaking year for Hong Kong, when the city turned violent overnight, she said. The use of violence was legitimized by foreign media and politicians, while radicals intimidated people with different views, and youngsters were told it was okay to throw petrol bombs because they're freedom fighters and petrol bombs are fire magic, she continued.

People have had enough of violence, the former district council member said.

There were more than 2.9 million people in Hong Kong who signed a petition to support the national security legislation for Hong Kong by the central government in June, she said.

"We need to restore our city. We can't risk Hong Kong to be taken away twice by violence. Colonialism is outdated."

Lam served as a member of the Tsuen Wan District Council of Hong Kong from 2015-2019. The United Nations Association of China is a non-governmental organization devoted to the promotion of the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.

(Cover: File photo of a session of the UN Human Rights Council. /UN)