Explainer | Is Hong Kong turning into a breeding ground for terrorism? How authorities assess the security threat after week of high-profile arrests
- The city’s No 2 official John Lee warned this week the city was showing signs of fostering extremists bent on violence
- Here is a look at the string of arrests that authorities have made over the past week that have been viewed as evidence for the claim
Hong Kong’s No 2 official delivered a stark warning this week: a city long celebrated as one of the safest in the world was now showing signs of breeding terrorist activities.
Here are the details of the cases and how officials have assessed the security risks the city is facing.
How did the stabbing occur?
Shortly after 10pm on July 1 as the city marked the 24th anniversary of its return to Chinese sovereignty, the assailant walked up behind a constable outside the Sogo department store in Causeway Bay and pulled out a knife which he plunged into the officer’s back.
The assailant, a 50-year-old purchasing agent at Vitasoy beverage company, then stabbed himself in the heart and was later pronounced dead in hospital.
The 28-year-old constable was rushed into surgery in critical condition and is now recovering.
While police classified the case as attempted murder and suicide, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung called the attack a “lone wolf-style act of domestic terrorism”. He said the attacker had been radicalised by hate speech and those who had incited him had “blood on their hands” as well. The force’s National Security Department is investigating the case.
On Tuesday, the department’s Senior Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah said suicide notes the assailant left behind indicated his plan to take his own life after attacking police. A number of newspapers were found in the man’s home, most of which carried reports inciting hate and fake news, he said.
The force would look into whether the attacker had accomplices or whether the man had been manipulated by others.
A police source told the Post earlier that the assailant was described to them as a recluse and introvert. He was single and lived with his parents, who apparently did not even know where he worked. No documented history of mental illness has been established.
What arrests have since taken place?
A day after the stabbing, police arrested a 24-year-old male suspect, Wong Chun-yin, for an arson attack at Government House, the city leader’s official residence. His case was first heard at Eastern Court on Monday.
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His 19-year-old girlfriend was also arrested on suspicion of conspiring in the arson attack.
Police have also found messages on social media over the past week inciting others to set fire to police stations and attack officers through violent means.
Officers detained three Hongkongers – two men and one woman – on Sunday and Monday in connection with some of the messages.
The 20-year-old woman is a student, while one of the two men works in advertising.
Police arrested all three on suspicion of sedition. Two of them were also detained for inciting others to set fire to police stations and murder officers, while the third suspect was also arrested for inciting others to attack police. They were all released on bail pending further investigation.
On Monday, national security police arrested nine people, including six secondary school students aged between 15 and 19, and a staff member at Baptist University, on suspicion of engaging in terrorist activities. They were allegedly part of an operation plotting to blow up courts, cross-harbour tunnels and railways.
Li said officers had broken up a well-organised group in the final stages of preparing the attacks. When raiding a guest house on Nathan Road in the Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district, officers discovered a makeshift laboratory set up in a small room which had been rented since June.
A trace quantity of explosives, two bottles of liquid chemicals and laboratory equipment required to produce triacetone triperoxide, a highly unstable and powerful explosive known as TATP, were seized.
Police say the six students were recruited by a group known as “Returning Valiant”, which promoted Hong Kong independence on its website and through fliers.
Three of them were charged with conspiracy to commit terrorist activities, which is punishable by a life imprisonment.
Are these cases linked and related to previous arrests too?
The three suspects in the incitement cases were accused of posting the offending messages online on July 2 – the day after the stabbing.
“He also listed some dates, saying they were days for chopping police officers,” Tam said. “The remarks were made after the attack on July 1, so I believe they are connected.”
A force insider said an initial investigation showed the three suspects did not know each other and there was no indication they knew the assailant who stabbed the constable.
The force is investigating whether the three were manipulated by others into making those comments on the internet. It did not reveal whether the arson attack or the alleged terrorist plot were connected with other cases.
How did police and officials react to these cases?
“If you find excuses for terrorism … you are encouraging extremists to engage in such acts,” he said.
He also slammed public figures he accused of condoning the stabbing, saying apologists for terrorism are “sinners for 1,000 years”.
“These show that ‘black violence’ has transformed from actions conducted by a crowd on the ground, to hidden, individualised acts. This could cause problems for our city,” she said, adding the city’s lack of regulations on the internet were to blame.
Security minister Tang blamed hatemongers for the “lone-wolf” terrorism.
Sources said police were on full alert on the streets and had also stepped up cyber patrols, fearing copycat attacks as people encouraged others on social media to target more officers.
Fully armed officers in protective vests patrolled the streets around the Sogo department store after the attack, reacting to calls online for people to gather there to “mourn” the assailant’s death.
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Has Hong Kong become a target of terrorism?
Security minister Tang said on Tuesday the terrorism threat remained “moderate”, or the second rank on a three-level scale, meaning there was a possibility of attack though there was no specific intelligence suggesting Hong Kong was a likely target.
A “high” threat level means there is a possibility of attack and specific intelligence suggesting the city is likely to be a target.
A “low” threat level means that the possibility of attack is low, and there is no specific intelligence of terrorist attacks.
Tang warned the current threat assessment should not mean residents could let down their guard. “But that doesn’t mean we should be at ease. A moderate threat level also signals something might happen. You can see over the past week, attacks did take place. We should be well-prepared, whereas citizens should also report any abnormalities,” Tang said.
A police source stressed labelling the stabbing case as a terrorist attack should send a strong and clear message to the public that such violence was serious and could happen at any time.
