Hong Kong police ‘the world’s best’, says top Beijing official, as he hails national security law for crushing ‘colour revolution’ plot
- Director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office lauds city’s authorities for safeguarding national security
- Xia Baolong calls police ‘Hong Kong’s heroes’ at high-powered forum in Chinese capital
Beijing’s top official in charge of Hong Kong affairs has lauded the city’s authorities for safeguarding national security in the past year and praised police as “the nation’s pride and Hong Kong’s heroes”.
But opposition figures and Western critics have accused authorities of creating an atmosphere of fear by using it to clamp down on dissent.
Xia noted that since the law came into effect in June last year, Hong Kong law enforcement agencies had arrested 117 people on suspicion on related offences and prosecuted 64 of them.
“With the law, we have completely crushed the plot for a Hong Kong ‘colour revolution’,” he said.
“Some anti-China leaders or core troublemakers either quit politics or fled abroad … but Hong Kong’s economy and financial sector remain strong, and the lies about Hong Kong’s pessimism have been dispelled.”
Xia also lauded local officials and pro-establishment figures for remaining fearless in face of “unlawful and unreasonable” sanctions from the United States and said police had effectively safeguarded national security.
“It also ensures Hong Kong’s social stability,” he said. “The valiant Hong Kong Police Force has always been on the front line of ending violence and chaos. They did not fail their reputation as the world’s best police force. Hong Kong police are the city and the nation’s pride, as well as the heroes of Hong Kong.”
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“Hong Kong authorities have done their utmost in establishing a firm wall made of bronze and iron in safeguarding national security,” he said.
After attending the forum virtually from a hotel in Hong Kong, Lam thanked Xia for acknowledging the work done by Hong Kong’s national security committee, which she chaired, as well as police.
“We prosecuted 64 people, but there is still a lot of investigative work to be done by police, as well as prosecutorial work to be done by the justice department,” she said.
Shelved for 18 years, Article 23 requires the city to enact laws to prohibit treason, secession, sedition, or subversion against the central government, and theft of state secrets, as well as to ban foreign groups from conducting political activities in the city and local political bodies from establishing ties with foreign political organisations.
Lam Chi-wai, chairman of the Junior Police Officers’ Association, also thanked Xia for recognising the police’s role in maintaining public order.
“It is every police officer’s goal to safeguard the rule of law, social stability and residents’ safety,” he said. “It is also the job of every government department to protect national security. We must do this together.
“As long as we join hands wholeheartedly, this wall of bronze and iron can be erected, and Hong Kong can continue to be a Pearl of the Orient, as well as a bridgehead in China’s economic progress and national security protection.”
