Anti-terrorism drill with 100 officers staged ahead of expected visit by state leaders on Hong Kong’s 25th handover anniversary

About 100 Hong Kong officers from three disciplined services have taken part in a drill featuring a mock terrorist with a car carrying suspected hazardous materials at a border checkpoint, ahead of an expected visit by state leaders next month.

Monday’s anti-terrorism exercise, code-named “Defender”, came ahead of celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, with state leaders expected to oversee the swearing-in of John Lee Ka-chiu as chief executive on that day.

The interdepartmental exercise occurred at the Customs and Excise Department’s Inbound Private Car Examination Building of the Heung Yuen Wai boundary control point and involved officers from Hong Kong customs, the Fire Services Department and police force.

“The exercise simulated the identification of a cross-boundary private car driver suspected to be related to terrorist activities, as well as the discovery of suspected hazardous material inside the car during customs clearance,” customs said in a statement on Tuesday.

Officers followed a contingency response plan to prevent leakage of the simulated dangerous material, summoned the fire department and informed the interdepartmental counterterrorism unit of the suspected terrorism-related clues for follow-up action.

Firefighters sped to the scene and officers from the hazardous materials team were deployed to handle the substance and carry out decontamination procedures.

“The exercise has raised the capability to handle counterterrorism intelligence and hazardous material incidents of the frontline officers of customs and the Fire Services Department,” customs said.