Hong Kong police lauded in China
Hong Kong’s police force have become hate figures for protesters during months of violent clashes.
But across the border in Hong Kong they have gained hero status in China, where some officers have built up a huge base of adoring fans on social media.
Tensions between the Hong Kong force, once greatly admired as ‘‘Asia’s finest’’, and the prodemocracy movement spiked after the shooting of two teenagers this week and the government’s introduction of a fiercely opposed facemask ban aimed at curbing street violence.
For months the two sides have traded acrimonious insults and swear words, with protesters shouting ‘‘dirty cops’’ or ‘‘triads’’ at the mere sight of the riot police, who have been heard to retort that demonstrators are ‘‘cockroaches’’.
But in China, officers have gained tens of thousands of followers on Weibo, the most popular social media account, where women have flocked to offer them marriage proposals or compliment their muscled physique.
While Hong Kong officers have been criticised at home and internationally for their escalating use of force against the protest movement, they have been lauded in China for their patriotism and defence of Chinese sovereignty.
Among the most famous is Lau Chak-kei, 46, who is reviled in Hong Kong for pointing a shotgun loaded with beanbag rounds at protesters outside a station in late July.
Lau, who now has more than 774,000 social media followers and is referred to by his nickname ‘‘Bald Lau Sir’’, was invited as a guest of honour to Beijing’s grand military parade celebrating China’s National Day on Oct 1 and pictured smiling and bearing Chinese flags drawn onto his fists.
Cheung Sir, another Hong Kong policeman active on Chinese social media, regularly posts gym workout pictures to his 73,000 followers. ‘‘Wow, those biceps are going to scare all cockroaches away! ... I’m willing to bear your babies!’’ gushed one woman last week in response.
– Telegraph Group police