Hong Kong’s PLA chief praises police for upholding rule of law amid storm over booksellers

The chief of the PLA’s Hong Kong garrison made a rare appearance at a police event on Saturday and praised the force’s efforts in safeguarding the city’s core values.

Tan Benhong’s comments came just days after a Hong Kong delegation to Beijing secured a provisional agreement to improve the cross-border notification system amid controversy over the detention of the Causeway Bay booksellers on mainland China and alleged cross-border law enforcement.

Hong Kong’s police chief later brushed off suggestions that Tan’s appearance at such a sensitive time may have been inappropriate.

The commander-in-chief of the People’s Liberation Army in the city was inspecting a passing out parade at the Hong Kong Police College in Wong Chuk Hang, eight years after his predecessor last attended the event.

Citing the 2014 Occupy movement, the Mong Kok riot and the problems of illegal immigration, Tan said the force acted strictly in accordance with the law to resolve challenges in a fluctuating political and social environment.