Former minister Anthony Cheung calls for independent inquiry into Hong Kong police conduct and cabinet reshuffle to help ease anti-government protest crisis

Ex-housing and transport secretary says ‘everyone loses’ if protests continue, and government reform could restore public’s faith

Cheung’s call for independent inquiry separately echoed by top barrister Lawrence Lok SC and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha

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Anthony Cheung on Saturday at a conference at Baptist University to discuss ways the government can resolve the protest crisis and restore trust. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 5:46pm, 26 Oct 2019Updated: 11:22pm, 26 Oct 2019

The Hong Kong government should launch an independent inquiry into police conduct as soon as possible to help solve the city’s ongoing protest crisis, a former minister has said.

Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, the secretary of housing and transport from 2012 to 2017, made the remarks at Baptist University on Saturday. His comments came after an inside source said this week that the government would consider such an investigation if the police watchdog’s review did not satisfy the public.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had repeatedly shrugged off calls for a judge-led commission of inquiry into police use of force in handling the protests. She had instead sided with the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), which is expected to file its first report on the matter by the end of the year.

Cheung, now a professor of public administration at Education University, said the government should not wait any longer.

Speaking separately on RTHK’s “Letter to Hong Kong” news programme, top barrister Lawrence Lok Ying-kam SC also expressed disappointment over the government’s response to public demands for an independent inquiry into police conduct.

“There is paramount importance to setting up a commission of inquiry,” Lok told RTHK on Saturday. “Only by finding out the truth, will justice be served for all sides.”