Beijing must have role if Hong Kong sets up inquiry into police handling of protests, says writer Ren Yi
- Weibo article by influential mainland commentator says police were left to handle situation that Hong Kong government could not solve
- Ren says any inquiry must also look at possibility of foreign interference in protest movement
If such a commission were set up, it should be led by Beijing and must also look at the possibility of foreign interference in the protest movement that emerged from public opposition to a now abandoned extradition bill, said Ren, who writes under the pseudonym of Chairman Rabbit.
“From the perspective of the police force, it’s the Hong Kong government’s inability to resolve a political crisis that has pushed them to the front line and forced them to clash with the protesters,” said Ren, a graduate of Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government.
A commission that only looked at police conduct would be insufficient, unfair and inherently biased, he said. Such a body should only be set up if protesters gave up violence. Otherwise, the movement’s radical element would be encouraged to try to undermine the government further.
Ren’s article – in response to a South China Morning Post report that the government may set up a commission of inquiry (COI) if the public was unhappy with the findings of a police watchdog – went viral on the mainland and was shared by many members of the mainland elite, including policymakers. It also reappeared on Ren’s WeChat account and had been read more than 620,000 times by Tuesday.
Ren said that an inquiry in the present circumstances would be counterproductive.
Hong Kong government ‘will consider’ commission of inquiry into police handling of protests if public is dissatisfied with watchdog’s report
“The COI, should it be set up according to the protesters’ wishes, could only condemn the police force to satisfy the radicals, a move that would only drag down the police force’s morale, make the unrest last even longer and damage the ‘one country, two systems’ framework.”
Ren suggested that Beijing should play a role in any commission, perhaps designating a member or setting its agenda.
“Beijing, instead of the Carrie Lam-led Hong Kong government, can initiate such a COI and ask it to do a comprehensive report with topics including why the extradition bill was proposed by the government; Hong Kong’s deep-rooted welfare and economic woes; how protesters were organised, and what factors were hindering police officers’ law enforcement actions,” Ren said.
The establishment of a commission of inquiry was the second of five demands made by protesters. The first, the formal withdrawal of the extradition bill, was met in September.
A source close to the Hong Kong government said that a commission could be considered as a response to the protesters’ demands.
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While Ren proposed a Beijing-initiated inquiry, observers from both the mainland and Hong Kong doubted such a move would help.
Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, a semi-official mainland think tank, said such a move could do nothing more than start another round of the political crisis.
“Politically speaking, Hong Kong society is highly polarised and there is no consensus about the formation of such a commission, what and how it should conduct investigations, and what the final report should be like,” Lau said.
“After four months of social unrest, the police force is in an extremely difficult position, and a commission of inquiry would put them in an even harder position.”
He Wen, who specialises in Hong Kong affairs at the Shanghai Institute for East-Asia Studies, said it was not a good time to set up an inquiry.
“If a COI is set up in response to the protesters' demands, then it would give a very bad impression that violence works but rational dialogue doesn’t,” He said, adding that this may create obstacles for the city government with policy in the future.
