Frustration of youth a factor in Mong Kok riot, says former Hong Kong police chief
But Tang King-shing rules out any People’s Liberation Army intervention in city over unrest
A former Hong Kong police chief says the Mong Kok riot last month was not surprising, given “unchecked frustration” among young people over economic and political problems.
But he dismissed the idea of People’s Liberation Army soldiers helping maintain law and order.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Tang King-shing, police commissioner from 2007 to 2011, discussed the riot for the first time in public before heading to Beijing as a local delegate to China’s top political advisory body, which begins its annual session today.
On Wednesday, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference spokesman Wang Guoqing reiterated Beijing’s commitment to the “one country, two systems” policy as he criticised the recent riot that left at least 125 people injured – 90 of them frontline police officers.
“Our society has progressed in general and people harbour higher expectations in the quality of life and in the government,” Tang, 61, said.
“Unfortunately, incessant political debate and economic hardship during the course of it have frustrated especially the youths. This development, if unchecked, widens the area of confrontation and results in conflict.”
What surprised him, he recalled, was that such mob violence would erupt on Lunar New Year’s Day, which is traditionally the most important time of the year for Chinese family gatherings. “Perhaps that indicates a change in traditional culture too,” said the father of three.
The former Mong Kok district commander would not be drawn into whether police had dealt with the riot properly.
“I, of course, feel for my colleagues who were on duty and suffered. Who wouldn’t, especially when seeing our home city suffer like that?,” he said. “But I am clear-headed about my retired status and would not poke my nose in their operations, not even at meals I had with some of the frontline officers, except for a word of encouragement.”
Tang urged Hongkongers to reflect on what happened.
“Everything has a lesson, and an incident like the Mong Kok riot can be seen in many different angles,” he said. “But we need to ask ourselves this, is that what we want to happen? I can tell you I don’t.”
The price to pay, he added, was more than a night of business in the Kowloon shopping hub.
“We live in a globalised world, and what happens here will bear a global impact that tarnishes our competitiveness, with or without us knowing it,” he said.
Tang warned about the impact on the Hong Kong force: “The police force and its resources are constant. Those deployed during the unrest are bound to affect other police missions.”
But Tang, a former crack police commando, was confident in the force’s ability to maintain law and order without the need for PLA troops to come out of their barracks in Hong Kong.
“There are many levels in the police operations. Aside from pistols from which two shots were fired that night, there are also rifles and tear gas, just to name two on the list,” he said.
“It’s a long way before a situation that would call in the PLA, which, once they were asked to march out of the barracks, would spur serious political repercussions.
“Some are worried about the PLA taking part in restoring order in Hong Kong – shouldn’t that get everyone to behave better in order for that not to happen?”
He quoted his motto, “attitude is everything”, as a way out of the mess.
“We should start with ourselves and do our best in the role we play, regardless of the situation out there,” he said. “Only then can we bypass distractions and get Hong Kong move forward. Otherwise, we would all be losers.”
Tang said he had yet to finalise his proposal when he attends the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference meetings.
“It won’t be about [missing] bookseller Lee Po, but will be an issue that is relevant to my police career, which will mark the 40th year in July,” he said.
