Surge of crime in ‘safe’ Hong Kong

– The kidnapping of a tycoon’s granddaughter, an armed robbery and a spate of high-profi le burglaries in the homes of Hong Kong’s elite have stirred concern in a city ranked as one of the safest in the world.

Hong Kong was rated the world’s 11th safest city by the Economist Intelligence Unit this year. But in recent months, crime has been making a splash.

Police this week launched a city-wide manhunt for a gang of mainland Chinese who kidnapped the granddaughter of Law Ting-pong, the founder of the Bossini clothing store chain. The 29-year-old was released unharmed, but the crooks fled with HK$28 million (R43 million) in ransom money.

It was Hong Kong’s fi rst publicly reported kidnapping since the mid-1990s abductions of Victor Li, the son of billionaire Li Kashing, and property tycoon Walter Kwok, both masterminded by Chinese gangster “Big Spender”, who was later executed in China.

Other victims of the latest crime spree have included top Indian and Australian diplomats, tycoon Cecil Chao, who offered HK$1 billion to any man who wed his lesbian daughter, and Li Kashing, whose home was the site of a burglary attempt.

Last month, Hong Kong had its first armed robbery and shooting in more than a decade when a man in a wig and surgical mask stole watches worth HK$5.5 million from a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui and shot a clerk who tried to stop him.

Hong Kong police did not respond to a request for comment on the surge in crime. – Reuters

Hong Kong