Chinese suppliers ready to provide tear gas to Hong Kong as other sources dry up
- As Britain and the US suspend sales, mainland firms can fill the gap, but how appealing is the Hong Kong market?
Mainland Chinese suppliers are standing by to provide Hong Kong police with riot control equipment, as Britain and the US move to suspend sales of tear gas and other items to the troubled city.
“It wouldn’t be too complex should there be any order coming from Hong Kong. A few trucks from Shenzhen could do,” said Wang Zhuojian, owner of Jing Shi Security Technology and Defence Product Development, based in Guangzhou in the southern province of Guangdong.
As an approved supplier to the Chinese Public Security Ministry of 15 categories of products – including batons, constraining forks and tear spray – and also an export licence holder, Wang said his company had more than 20,000 stab-proof body armour units in stock. “If needed, we could arrange logistics right away,” he said.
In the past three months of protests, Hong Kong police have fired more than 1,800 rounds of tear gas and worn out a number of batons, shields and vests.