Hong Kong police buy new tear gas canisters from mainland China, including same hand-thrown model used by PLA’s anti-terrorism squad
- Jing An KF-302-20 CS Grenade canisters produce denser smoke faster, giving protesters less time to react, source tells Post
- New rounds fired from 38mm-calibre Federal Riot Guns also increase police’s effective range by 20 metres
Hong Kong police have bought new tear gas canisters which are the same model used by the Chinese army’s anti-terrorism squad, sources have told the Post.
Force insiders said the hand-thrown Jing An KF-302-20 CS Grenade canisters were among boxes of new tear gas rounds – bought from a mainland Chinese supplier – that were distributed to riot police last week.
“The canisters are the same type used by the PLA’s anti-terrorism squad,” one source said adding that it was more stable and produced denser smoke comparing with the CS grenades from Britain.
He said the new canisters would explode and produce tear gas smoke in precisely 1.2 seconds after being thrown.
“The old ones, designed to explode in 1.5 seconds, sometimes took longer to produce smoke or didn’t even work,” the source said.
He said the shorter period would give protesters less time to react on the ground.
The new rounds, fired from 38mm-calibre Federal Riot Guns nicknamed big mouth guns, have an effective range up to 100 metres. The old ones had an effective range of 80 metres.
But the sources refused to reveal how many rounds had been bought from the supplier.
The Post learned that the new crowd-control weapons had been tested by experts from the Police Tactical Unit and frontline officers had been briefed on their characteristics.
The items were delivered to officers from the regional response contingents last week. Police have fired nearly 5,000 tear gas canisters against radical anti-government protesters since the social unrest hit the city in June.
Another source said the force was studying whether it needed to buy crowd-control equipment, adding that “it is likely the suppliers are also from the mainland”.
He defended claims the force had insufficient stock.
“The purchase of new stock is necessary because of the current usage,” he said.
But he admitted the use of tear gas to disperse protesters was not effective because most protesters were equipped with gas masks.
“They have also poured water on canisters or put them in bags to contain the smoke,” this source said. “Some wearing gloves had thrown them back while another had returned canisters using a tennis racket.”
Amid escalating violence by radicals, police have turned to mainland Chinese manufacturers to buy new protective suits and retractable batons.
A Guangzhou manufacturer delivered hundreds of protective suits to provide frontline officers better protection in August, while a month later, thousands of retractable batons arrived from mainland China and were given to officers who asked for them.
Previously, the force procured equipment, including protective gear, mainly from Britain.
In June, then British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt suspended the export of tear gas and rubber bullets to Hong Kong after police and demonstrators clashed during early protests against the now-withdrawn extradition bill.
Last month, US congressional representatives announced a bill to prohibit American companies from selling so-called non-lethal crowd items, such as tear gas, as well as defence articles and services to Hong Kong.
