Hong Kong police yesterday displayed a cuddly bear mascot, rappelled from a helicopter and goose-stepped as the territory held a “National Security Education Day.”
Beijing last year blanketed Hong Kong in a sweeping National Security Law after months of democracy protests.
Yesterday’s events, the first since the law’s imposition in June last year, included activities across the territory to burnish the security forces and outline the threats China perceives in Hong Kong.
Photo: Reuters
At a morning ceremony attended by senior officials, Hong Kong Liaison Office Director Luo Huining (駱惠寧) vowed to “strike down hard resistance and regulate soft resistance.”
China was ready to “teach a lesson” to any foreign power trying to use the territory “as a chess piece,” said Luo, Beijing’s top official in Hong Kong.
“For all deeds that endanger national security, and Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability, the central authorities will take action as necessary,” he said.
Over seven straight months in 2019, protesters demanded democracy and greater police accountability.
Beijing’s leaders have dismissed the movement, portraying it as a “foreign plot” to destroy China.
They have since embarked on a crackdown against critics and rolled out an official campaign — dubbed “staunch patriots governing Hong Kong” — to root out disloyalty toward the Chinese Communist Party.
Hong Kong’s police college held an open day, at which officers revealed a new goose-stepping march, the same style used by police and troops in the mainland.
The display was a symbolic break from Hong Kong’s British colonial past and Chinese army officers helped train police in the new style.
Tactical units then demonstrated an “anti-terrorism drill,” which included officers sliding down ropes from a helicopter to shoot dead pretend armed militants and a hostage-taker.
On the sidelines, guests wearing “I love police” T-shirts posed for selfies with a bear mascot dressed in a tactical uniform.
Cuddly toy versions of the bear were also on sale for HK$400 (US$52) alongside plastic toys of riot police officers holding shotguns and tear gas warning flags.
Schools have been a major focus for authorities as they seek to incubate loyalty from an early age.
National security day activities were held across classrooms featuring games, puzzles, quizzes and flag-raising ceremonies.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
Four former Hong Kong opposition lawmakers jailed in the territory’s largest national security case were released yesterday after more than four years in prison, the first among dozens convicted last year to regain their freedom. Former legislators Claudia Mo (毛孟靜), Jeremy Tam (譚文豪), Kwok Ka-ki (郭家麒) and Gary Fan (范國威) were part of a group of 47 public figures — including some of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy advocates — who were charged with subversion in 2021 for holding an informal primary election. The case fell under a National Security Law imposed on the territory by Beijng, and drew international condemnation and warnings
RSS