Joint bid to fight crime

HONG KONG and mainland police co-operate regularly in the fight against cross-border crime, including robberies in Hong Kong waters, said Secretary for Security Alistair Asprey.

Mr Asprey believed many robberies in Hong Kong were carried out by mainlanders.

''In the majority of cases the victims reported that the culprits spoke with a mainland accent,'' he said.

Simply because no one had been arrested for committing robberies at sea did not mean the police were inefficient.

''It was just because in all cases, the robbers escaped very soon, even before the police arrived,'' he said.