Mon, Jul 01, 2019 page4

• Anger swells against ‘Asia’s finest’

  ‘SHOOT TO WOUND’: Beijing using the Hong Kong police to suppress dissent in the territory has eroded people’s trust in the force and marred its reputation

  • AFP, HONG KONG
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  Once dubbed “Asia’s finest,” Hong Kong’s police are fighting allegations of using excessive violence against protesters, their headquarters besieged twice in the past week as calls for an independent inquiry into their tactics swell.

  Pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmaker Wu Chi-wai (胡志偉) was aghast as thick clouds of tear gas drifted through Hong Kong’s streets and rubber bullets slammed into ranks of protesters.

  The territory witnessed the worst political violence in a generation as police fought largely young demonstrators opposed to a now-postponed plan to allow extraditions to China.

  The tear gas was initially deployed against small, but hardcore groups of protesters — some throwing projectiles and using metal barriers as battering rams — who were trying to occupy the Hong Kong Legislative Council on June 12.

  However, the police response morphed into a sweeping clearance operation as officers turned their weapons on larger, mostly peaceful crowds of demonstrators who had occupied nearby roads.

  Wu found himself in between police and demonstrator lines as a tear gas canister exploded behind him.

  In scenes caught on video that went viral, Wu calmly walked toward the police, his hands raised, asking to speak to the commanding officer.

  “I believe I posed no threat to the police and I wanted to be a mediator,” he told reporters. “I hoped the police would allow the protesters to leave safely and peacefully.”

  However, his pleas fell on deaf ears. Police fired a round of tear gas close to his feet and he was forced to retreat.

  That video was just one of many from that day which have deeply polarized attitudes toward Hong Kong police, who are to come under scrutiny again today when the territory hosts another protest, with organizers expecting a huge turnout.

  The force did not respond to requests for comment or to interview frontline officers.

  However, Hong Kong Police Commissioner Stephen Lo (盧偉聰) has called the June 12 protest a riot, with officers facing “life-threatening acts” and having “no choice, but to escalate the use of force.”

  Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) — who has not been seen in public for more than a week — has similarly thrown her weight behind officers, praising them in a statement on Thursday for their “distinguished professionalism and restraint.”

  Supporters of the police were also planning to rally yesterday.

  Yet public anger toward the force — especially among younger Hong Kongers — shows little sign of abating. Twice police headquarters have been blockaded by large crowds of protesters, among whose demands are an independent inquiry.

  Cleaners have had to repeatedly scrub walls of egg shells and graffiti, one of the slogans daubed in red paint and starkly declaring: “Fuck the popo.”

  Angry chants of hak ging (黑警) — black cops — have become commonplace, a pun on the phrase “black societies,” which is used to describe triad gangs.

  However, it is not just protesters criticizing the police.

  Calls for an independent inquiry have come from a wide spectrum of former officials, rights advocates and legal groups, including the Hong Kong Bar Association.

  “This has put tremendous pressure on frontline officers, who are caught between a rock and a hard place: civilian protesters who despise them and police management that issue orders to ‘shoot to wound,’” said Jason Ng, convenor of the Progressive Lawyers Group.

  Political analyst Dixon Sing (成名) said there is little faith police will adequately investigate themselves.

  “People surrounded the headquarters because they do not see that justice will be done by the current investigation mechanism,” Sing said.

  He said the force’s reputation was already struggling after officers were used to suppress pro-democracy “Umbrella movement” protests in 2014 that won no concessions from Beijing.

  When officers were filmed beating up a protester, the police’s own investigation initially recommended no charges. When a court finally did jail the officers, thousands of their colleagues rallied in a park against the conviction.

  Locals, media and the government’s own literature often refer to the force as “Asia’s finest,” and Hong Kong remains a remarkably safe place to live with low levels of theft and violent crime, despite huge inequalities.

  Officers were lauded for their efficiency and honesty, while many of their counterparts across Asia earned reputations for brutality and graft.

  However, critics said the force being used as the speartip of Beijing’s efforts to suppress growing calls for democracy risk fatally undermining that history.

  “The rapid decline has coincided with a ratcheting up of force unleashed on unarmed and largely peaceful protesters,” Ng said. “The public image of ... Asia’s finest has gone from bad to worse.”
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