Beijing slams PLA barracks break-in
Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office insists pro-independence campaigners must be punished as four suspects are arrested
Beijing has expressed "grave concern" over a break-in by Hong Kong pro-independence activists at the People's Liberation Army barracks in Admiralty, hours after four suspects were arrested.
A group of between four and six people broke into the Central Barracks on Boxing Day, carrying colonial-era Hong Kong flags and calling on the PLA to "get out" of the city. They are believed to be members of a group calling itself Hongkongers Come First.
Billy Chiu Hin-chung, 28, was picked up by the Central District crime squad on Hong Kong Island yesterday, while Dickson Cheung Hon-yin, 40, was arrested in Cheung Chau.
Two other people, a 29-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy, were arrested during yesterday's Civil Human Rights Front pro-democracy march. Police say a fifth man, arrested for an unrelated theft offence during the march, was also a suspect in the break-in.
Nobody has yet been charged.
Chiu and Cheung were later released on bail. They must report back to the police later this month. The other two were detained for questioning last night.
Under the Public Order Ordinance, entering a "closed area" without permission carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.