Violence warning ‘propaganda’
HONG Kong police warned yesterday of the potential for protesters in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory to engage in violence “one step closer to terrorism” during this week’s National Day events, an assertion ridiculed by activists as propaganda meant to scare people from taking to the streets.
Police public relations chief Tse Chun-chung said police intelligence suggested hardline protesters were inciting others to commit “extreme acts” such as killing police, posing as police officials to kill civilians and large-scale arson, including at gas stations, during tomorrow’ holiday.
“We’re on the verge of extreme danger,” Tse told a news conference. “There are apparent signs that hardcore violence may escalate. Those acts are one step closer to terrorism.”
Last month, Beijing moved thousands of troops across the border into this restive city. They came in on trucks and armoured cars, by bus and by ship.
State news agency Xinhua described the operation as a routine “rotation” of the low-key force China has kept in Hong Kong since the city’s handover from Britain in 1997. No mention was made of the anti-government protests that have been shaking the metropolis since June over a bill, that has since been scrapped, that would have paved the way for people to be extradited to the mainland.
A month on, Asian and Western envoys in Hong Kong say they are certain the late-August deployment was a reinforcement. Seven envoys said they didn’t detect any significant number of existing forces in Hong Kong returning to the mainland in the days before or after the announcement.
Three of the envoys said the contingent of Chinese military personnel in Hong Kong had more than doubled since the protests began. They estimated the number of military personnel at now between 10 000 and 12000, up from 3000 to 5000 in the months before the reinforcement.
As a result, the envoys believe, China has now assembled its largest force of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops and other anti-riot personnel and equipment in Hong Kong.
Five of the diplomats say the build-up includes elements of the People’s Armed Police (Pap), a mainland paramilitary anti-riot and internal security force under a separate command from the PLA.
Envoys say the bulk of the troops in Hong Kong are from the PLA. Pap forces would be likely to spearhead any crackdown if Beijing decides to intervene, according to foreign envoys and security analysts. These paramilitary troops are specially trained in non-lethal tactics and methods of riot suppression and crowd control.
The envoys declined to say how they determined that the recent troop movement was a reinforcement or how they arrived at their troop estimates. Reporters visited the areas surrounding multiple PLA bases in Hong Kong and observed significantly increased movements by troops and armoured vehicles at the facilities.
EPA
China’s Ministry of National Defence, the PLA garrison in Hong Kong, the State Council Information Office, and the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office did not respond to questions. In early September, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said China would “not sit idly by” if the situation in the city continued to deteriorate and posed a threat to “the country’s sovereignty”.
The office of Carrie Lam had no comment. A Hong Kong police spokesperson said the police force was “capable of maintaining law and order and determined to restore public safety”.
After this report was published, Lawrence Li, spokesperson for the Hong Kong government’s Security Bureau, said the PLA garrison was operating “in strict accordance” with the law. “Details of the garrison’s rotation, including the number of its members involved, are defence matters,” he wrote, and the government “has no relevant information to provide”.