Speaking in Beijing on November 30, 2016, morning, Chen Zuoer, President of Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies and former Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, quoted the old Chinese saying to describe the Hongkong 'independence' supporters as “running rat across the streets”. He said that the city should fight back and hunt down independence advocates with no mercy and chase them “like a rat seen in a street”. He said: “Hong Kong should hunt down the advocates with no mercy. This force cannot exist in the political structure of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.” Chen Zuoer made the remarks as he met a delegation from the Silent Majority for Hong Kong, a pro-Beijing group led by former radio host Robert Chow Yung, and an outspoken critic of the Occupy protests in 2014.