Hong Kong police fire warning shots during Mong Kok fishball 'riot'

[Hamartia Antidote]

Beijing signals less tolerant approach in branding instigators of Mong Kok riot as Hong Kong ‘separatists’ | South China Morning Post

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A rioter holds a lamp post as a fire burns in Mong Kok. Photo: Bloomberg

Beijing is signalling a less tolerant approach to social unrest in Hong Kong by branding the instigators of the Mong Kok riot on Monday night as “separatists”, China watchers said on Friday.

The central government raised the stakes in its first official condemnation of the rioters after Hong Kong police arrested 65 people and charged 41 of them.

READ MORE: Three more Hongkongers appear in court over Mong Kok riot, including Scholarism activist
On the face of it, the classification appears to place the rioters in the same category as separatists from the Tibet and Xinjiang regions, who are seen as a serious threat to national security, although there is a difference in the Chinese word used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Hong Kong protesters.

“On the early morning of February 9, a riot plotted mainly by local radical separatist organisation rocked Mong Kok,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in the official statement, which did not specify whether one or more such organisations were involved.

Police confront rioters in Mong Kok. Photo: Edward Wong

China-watcher Johnny Lau Yui-siu said it was unprecedented for Beijing to identify separatists in the city. He called it a “wrong” categorisation that would lead to unnecessary escalation of anti-mainland sentiment.

The separatist label is “one level less serious” than “secessionist”, and the use of the former is a sign that Beijing could “conclude secessionist elements exist in the city, should the situation worsen”, Lau warned.

READ MORE: Hong Kong police chief fails to quell anger of frontline officers at talks on Mong Kok riot tactics
Secession, terrorism and extreme religious forces form the three core threats China’s Communist Party has pledged to eradicate. Offenders face the death penalty, which does not exist in Hong Kong.

Beijing did not identify Hong Kong Indigenous, the radical group whose members have been accused of orchestrating the violence. But Edward Leung Tin-kei, one of the members charged with rioting, said: “I would not comment directly on the official label which places no emphasis whatsoever on explaining what had actually led to the eruption and escalation of what had happened.”

Pro-establishment lawmaker Wong Kwok-kin said the classification reflected the rioters’ transition from philosophical advocacy to real action. “They were called ‘Hong Kong independence advocates’ before. That no longer applies to people taking to violence,” he said.

Police officers walk past a fire started by protesters in Mong Kok early on Tuesday. Photo: AP

The foreign ministry expressed “strong condemnation” of the violence as well as firm support for Hong Kong police in maintaining the city’s stability.

Minutes before Scholarism member Derek Lam Shun-hin was due to appear in court yesterday to face a charge of rioting, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung dismissed allegations that the serious charge for all but one of the defendants being prosecuted so far was “tailor made” to match Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s description of the Mong Kok clashes as a “riot”.

“It was not because anyone has said anything – the most important and ultimate factor is that we look at evidence,” he said.

“Since the 1997 handover or in the last decade or two, have you seen something similar to what happened that night? ... It is exactly because it is rare that we decided to charge the suspects with rioting.”

Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen did not rule out further charges. Photo: Sam Tsang

He went on: “The court has set it very clearly, including our Court of Final Appeal, that irrespective of your political motive, irrespective of your political opinion, the way to express your views, the way to express your political opinion has to be lawful ... I think the majority of people in Hong Kong would love to have a peaceful Hong Kong, and I don’t think anyone in Hong Kong would love to see such kind of violent act.”

Yuen also said the Justice Department would not rule out charging suspects for other criminal offences.

Referring to the next court appearance for the 37 who made their first appearance on Thursday, the minister said: “We will work closely with the police, we will scrutinise the evidence, and we will decide whether there are other charges that we need to consider from now until April 7 ... We do not exclude the possibility that we might need to add further charges to those defendants.

 

[ahojunk]

Identify and arrest all the trouble-makers. Give them very long jail terms.

Ban the NGO's such the NDI and NED from Hong Kong.

Give the police more powers and weapons to deal with future trouble-makers.

Hong Kong cannot be held to ransom by a small handful of trouble-makers.

If they don't like Hong Kong, they can migrate to other countries.

 

[bbccdd1470]

Identify and arrest all the trouble-makers. Give them very long jail terms.

Ban the NGO's such the NDI and NED from Hong Kong.

Give the police more powers and weapons to deal with future trouble-makers.

Hong Kong cannot be held to ransom by a small handful of trouble-makers.

If they don't like Hong Kong, they can migrate to other countries.

Sounds good in plan, but hard to do in reality. HK people are not that rational, and we sometime follow our emotion rather than reason. Anyone has fully studied the yellow umbrella occupation will then understand what i am saying. For example, many people, especially in the yellow camp, believe that if their cause is "just", they can do and support whatever they want even it's illegal. Most importantly, they are about one third of HK population and many of them are educated.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Former top government advisor’s remarks on Article 23 spark fears over national security law for Hong Kong | South China Morning Post

Former top government advisor’s remarks on Article 23 spark fears over national security law for Hong Kong
Minister moves to ease concerns that Article 23 may be back on agenda in wake of riot after ‘sooner the better’ remark by former adviser

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Former government Central Policy Unit head, Lau Siu-kai , says the sooner Article 23 is enacted, the better it would be for Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Hong Kong’s security chief has moved to quash concerns that controversial Article 23 national security legislation might be back on the front burner after a former top government advisor said it should be introduced in the wake’ of the Mong Kok riot.

Speaking in a television interview devoted entirely to last week’s violence, former government Central Policy Unit head, Lau Siu-kai , said the sooner Article 23 is enacted, the better it would be for Hong Kong.

Lau – who is now a senior member of a semi-official mainland think-tank – made the comments a day after Beijing branded the instigators of the riot “separatists”, a classification which appears to place them in the same category as separatists from Tibet and Xinjiang, who are considered a threat to national security.

“On legislating Article 23, in my opinion, the sooner it is done, the better it is. The sooner it is done, the more we can have a legislation that can protect national safety ...”
Lau’s think-tank colleague and prominent mainland academic, Qi Pengfei, told the Sunday Morning Post that the language chosen by Beijing to react to the violence would have been arrived at carefully and could mark a “sea change” in how it would handle Hong Kong’s localists.

Masked rioters in Mong Kok during a clash that began with a dispute over street vendors in the area. Photo: Edward WongThe intervention of Lau, a vice chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, has prompted fears that a public backlash against the violent events in Mong Kok could be used to fuel a renewed push for the enactment of Article 23 legislation to crack down on pro-independence activists who have grown in number after the Occupy Central movement.

Yesterday, Lau said that although the pro-independence and localism ideologies are not supported by the majority of Hong Kong people, Beijing is concerned if they would grow and become a threat to national safety in the future.

“On legislating Article 23, in my opinion, the sooner it is done, the better it is. The sooner it is done, the more we can have a legislation that can protect national safety which also takes into account Hong Kong people’s worries and the special situation Hong Kong is in,” Lau said in a television talk show.

He added that if the article is not enacted, Beijing may “take actions” if it sees any threats to national safety in the city.

Last week, about 100 police officers were hurtwhen a protest against a crackdown on street hawkers evolved into a riot.

More than 60 people, some of them from the localism group Hong Kong Indigenous, have been arrested. Forty people have been charged with taking part in a riot, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok. Photo: SCMP PicturesAsked if he thinks Beijing was paving the way to legislate Article 23 by classifying the rioters as “separatists”, Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok said:“The stance of the current government has always been the same. There have been no changes because of (the riot).”

“It may indicate a significant change of the central government’s attitude on the growth of localists forces in Hong Kong as it notes some localist groups are calling for separation from the mainland.”
When Beijing passed a sweeping new national security law in July 1 last year, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying assured Hongkongers that the government had no plans to enact Article 23.

But Leung said the city did have a responsibility to help ensure national security, which it should do by local legislation. The Basic Law requires the government to draw up its own national security law prohibiting acts that include treason, secession, sedition, or subversion.

Qi Pengfei, director of the Renmin University’s research centre on Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, told the Post the foreign ministry’s wording implied a possible sea-change in how Beijing handled Hong Kong’s localists.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not come up with a terminology lightly. Its statement must be decided after deliberation and discussion among various departments in the central government,” said Qi, fellow vice-chairman of Lau’s think tank.

“It may indicate a significant change of the central government’s attitude on the growth of localists forces in Hong Kong as it notes some localist groups are calling for separation from the mainland.”

It was the first time the terms “local organisation” and “separatist organisation” were used in official statements issued by mainland departments regarding Hong Kong affairs, Qi noted.

Former secretary for security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, whose failed bid to push through the law in 2003 prompted her resignation, and brough 500,000 people out onto the streets in peaceful protest, said discussions could start now.

Ip said the old version of the bill was not suitable for today’s Hong Kong.

“It was actually pretty toothless. If you see separatist sentiments translated into violent actions, then secession legislation would be necessary. But how to define and how to punish – that ordinance was very loose and not applicable today,” she said.

Civic Party’s leader Alan Leong Kah-kit and Democratic Party lawmaker Albert Ho Chun-yan feared the fallout of the riot is an orchestrated attempt to push for Article 23.

Lau’s remarks, Leong added, could be evidence that “somebody … is orchestrating in such a way to bring about circumstances that would make way for Article 23 legislation”.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

‘Conflict of interest’: Mong Kok riot probe likely to be led by director of police operation | South China Morning Post

Questions raised of a possible conflict of interest if police commissioner appoints assistant to investigate tactics blamed for high injury toll

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Senior Assistant Commissioner Alan Lau, as director of operations, made most of the decisions during the riot. Photo: Dickson Lee

The policeman in charge of the Mong Kok riot operations is likely to chair a review of what happened that night, sparking concern about the impartiality of the probe, the Post has learnt.

To quell the anger of frontline officers who blame the high injury toll suffered at the hands of the street mob on police tactics, Police Commissioner Stephen Lo Wai-chung on Friday promised a review of operations.

A senior police source close to the matter told the Post that Lo intended to appoint Senior Assistant Commissioner Alan Lau Yip-shing, who is director of operations, to lead the review committee.

The source said many fellow officers questioned if Lau was the right candidate as he made most of the decisions that night.
“There is surely a conflict of interest if Lau takes the lead,” the source told.

“Lau is always the man who is responsible for operation reviews, but definitely not this time. What’s the point of the review if the chairman actually participated widely in the operation?”

The source said Lo should appoint a man who was completely hand-offs during the Mong Kok chaos to lead the investigation.

“Above Lau, only Lo and two deputy commissioners leading operations and management respectively are left in the list.”

The chairman of the Junior Police Officers’ Association, Joe Chan Cho-kwong, who was invited to take part in the committee, echoed the view and said Lau was not the right choice.


Police officers carry a colleague injured during the Mong Kok riot. Photo: SCMP PicturesChan said he had not been told who would chair the committee yet and that the decision would be made public as early as Monday.

The riot in Mong Kok erupted on February 8, the first night of the Lunar Year, and exposed intelligence and response failings of police.

The Post reported earlier that much of anger among officers was a result of a refusal to allow the use of tear gas and rubber bullets to keep the mob at bay, which resulted in nearly 100 police officers being injured and the firing of two live warning shots.

The Legislative Council’s security panel will hold a special meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss how the police handled the riot. It is understood that Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok and Lau will attend the meeting.

In the latest development, a 30-year-old immigration officer named Chu was arrested on Saturday afternoon over an alleged Facebook post claiming he would donate HK$10,000 for each murder of a police officer.

Chu was arrested in Yuen Long on suspicion of “misleading officers by false information” and “accessing a computer with criminal or dishonest intent”, hours after he called police claiming his Facebook account had been hacked.

“The relevant address posted on his Facebook account was made by Chu himself, not hackers,” a source said.

The Immigration Department said it had no comment as the matter was still under investigation.