SCMP Editorial

Editorial | Police stabbing probe must yield lessons to make city even safer

Such ‘lone wolf ‘ attacks are an assault on our way of life and cannot be tolerated

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Police analyse the crime scene where a man stabbed a police officer and killed himself outside Sogo in Causeway Bay. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

SCMP Editorial

Published: 3:54am, 3 Jul 2021Updated: 3:53am, 3 Jul 2021

Hong Kong cherishes its reputation for safe streets – even more so after pictures of the clashes between police and protesters in 2019 went around the world. It is paramount to its future as a finance, business and tourist hub.

Any attack with a weapon in a busy thoroughfare is anathema to that image.

An unprovoked stabbing in the back of an unsuspecting police officer by a lone assailant in Causeway Bay on Thursday night has shocked the city, not least because of overtones of unhealed deep divisions in society.

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Assailant dies after stabbing Hong Kong police officer and then himself on busy street

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said it was a “terrorist” attack. Preliminary investigations showed the assailant was a “lone wolf” but police were still probing his background. They apparently found propaganda material and suicide notes mentioning plots to kill police for the sake of the city.

This raises questions about his state of mind as well as motive.

The incident occurred despite heavy security for Thursday’s July 1 double anniversary celebrations of the Communist Party centenary and the return of Hong Kong to China. It does nothing to ease tensions still simmering in society amid continuing arrests under the national security law imposed on the city by Beijing.

Security police are bound to redouble their vigilance, especially over social media.