Hong Kong's Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok has said it is wrong to use the term "Fishball Revolution" to justify the mob violence in Mong Kok during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Lai says the word "fishball" is misplaced as it implies hawkers were selling food when the government took enforcement action against them.

He says the reality is that Food &Environmental Hygiene Department officers were patrolling the area near the location where the unrest started.

He says the officers were not taking any enforcement action.

Instead, he says the officers were surrounded by a group of more than 50 people before asking for police assistance.

The riot from late Monday to Tuesday has left more than 100 people injured.

Some mobsters barricaded the street, set fires, damaged police cars, and assaulted police officers, causing injury to many of them.

As of Saturday, the police have arrested more than 60 suspects and 40 of them have been charged with rioting.