Security ramped up for Hong Kong’s handover anniversary following spate of terrorist attacks abroad
Decision to scale up measures, which will include heightened security around hotel where President Xi Jinping is expected to stay and huge plastic barricades filled with water to prevent vehicle attacks, was made on advice of mainland Chinese officials who inspected the city recently
Hong Kong police will ramp up security measures ahead of the visit by state leaders that could include President Xi Jinping, for the anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty in the wake of deadly terror attacks abroad.
In addition to heightened security around the hotel where the state leaders will stay, a force insider said on Tuesday that huge plastic barricades, filled with water, would also be placed outside several venues in a bid to prevent attacks using vehicles.
The decision to scale up the security measures was made on the advice of mainland officials from Beijing who inspected the relevant venues in the city recently, said the source.
He said the force had also informed other government departments to enhance security and put up bollards or barriers around government buildings in response to the recent spate of attacks overseas.
For operational and security reasons, the source refused to reveal any details of a possible visit by Xi, but stressed there was no specific intelligence to suggest Hong Kong was a target for a terror attack. The city’s threat level remained “moderate”, he said.
The enhanced security precautions follow Saturday’s attack in London, in which three men rammed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before running into the Borough Market area, where they slit throats and stabbed people before being shot dead by police.
Xi is expected to pay a three-day visit to Hong Kong between June 29 and July 1 to mark the 20th anniversary of the city’s handover to China.
He would likely leave the city around midday, after he has sworn in the city’s next chief executive, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, on July 1.
More than a third of the 29,000 strong force is understood to be deployed to protect the state leader. Officers from the force’s elite squads such as the Special Duties Unit – known as the “Flying Tigers” – the VIP Protection Unit, the Counter Terrorism and Internal Security Division, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau and the Airport Security Unit will be among about 10,000 officers deployed on the ground and on standby around the clock during the visit.
The elite police escort team will next week carry out exercises to test security measures and work out the routes of the official motorcade. Officers from the Special Duties Unit will be on-board a Government Flying Service helicopter to offer aerial protection along the routes of motorcade.
Next Friday, hundreds of officers will attend the force’s major exercise at the Police Tactical Unit training ground in Fanling to test riot control measures and new equipment.
It is unclear whether 400 new tactical suits, bought following the Mong Kok riot in February last year and offering protection against heat-related injuries and projectiles such as bricks, will be ready for use. About 100 officers were injured during clashes on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Another source said divers from the Special Duties Unit would conduct an underwater search in Victoria Harbour, near the hotel where it is thought Xi will stay one or two days ahead of his arrival.
Last month, the force mounted a series of anti-terror drills across the city to ensure officers are ready for any scenario. Heavily armed terrorists ramming a van into a crowded carnival was one of the scenarios more than 300 officers trained for in the Kowloon Bay headquarters of the city’s auxiliary police force.
