Mong Kok rioters would have been shot dead if handled by foreign police, ex-Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying says
Former chief executive describes unrest of 2016 that led to 91 arrests as a test case for change in city
Hong Kong’s ex-leader has raised eyebrows by suggesting protesters in the 2016 Mong Kok riot could have been shot dead had foreign police been involved.
“Look at the Western nations!” the city’s former top official wrote. “Their police would have been extremely likely to have shot the rioters dead in that situation.”
The violent clashes between protesters and police took place in February 2016 while Leung was chief executive. In total, 91 people were arrested, including 24 who ended up being convicted or pleading guilty to a range of charges including rioting and assaulting.
Edward Leung’s co-defendant, Lo Kin-man, was jailed for seven years – the most severe punishment handed down since the rioting offence was added to the city’s public order laws in 1970.
In his entry, the ex-leader described the riot as a test case for change, comparing it with Tunisia’s “Jasmine Revolution” of 2011. He also questioned why the city’s opposition camp did not ask police in the West to learn how to be as restrained as the Hong Kong force.