The police must be under serious pressure to be willing to shackle itself to that extent. Last year alone saw over 740 young riot policemen injured in clashes with violent protestors. It is lamentable if politicians and senior officials can present the plan as a bright idea in these circumstances.

How can they conceive of asking riot policemen being threatened with steel pipes and bamboo sticks to effectively take individual responsibility if a problem arises? If masked policeman are a problem, what about masked rioters? How can the thinking of officials who are in charge of others' children be so shallow?

Though they talk about a protest culture, the essence of the matter is simple. Everything will be fine so long as both demonstrators and law enforcement strictly observe the police line. Demonstrators are free to express their opinions after announcing their demonstrations, but once they cross the police line, they should be punished in accordance with the law. Police likewise must not cross the line unless demonstrators commit illegal acts. That is how the demonstration culture works in developed countries.

The confrontation of “weak” demonstrators versus “strong” police was natural during the authoritarian era, when all protests were banned. But the situation has substantially changed. Now we live in an era when the resignation of a dozen police commissioners isn’t enough if riot police cross the line and use excessive force.

The only way to establish a proper protest culture is to compel violent protestors to wear name tags on their foreheads, not ask police to wear them on their protective vests. In other words, the only way forward is to establish a social consensus that illegal and violent protestors must be ready to pay the price stipulated by law.