craig leeson has more. >> thousands gathered outside the legislative council to hold a vigil for the journalist after a brutal knife attack. wednesday, he arrived at a local restaurant for breakfast. he was ambushed by two men on a motorcycle in what police describe as a classic try add attack. in january, he was sacked from his post as he had door of the local daily newspaper. there is now speculation that his attack was connected to an investigation into the business affairs of senior chinese figures. the newspaper has handed police articles it thinks might be connected to the attack. these attacks are on the increase. last year, billionaire magazine pub issuer was assaulted as he left his office. in a separate incident, a stolen vehicle was used to ram a home. >> these are signs that the hong kong society find this absolutely unacceptable and hope hong kong as a government do something about this. >> journalists warn a culture of fear is now developing in hong kong in a first of joint forces with their employers to create a cross industry representative group called the press coal