Hong Kong grapples with tough questions over threat of domestic terrorism after officer stabbed
- Experts say authorities are caught in a delicate position in responding to the knifing of a police officer, which officials have labelled domestic terrorism
- Calling the attack evidence of a trend could perpetuate the problem, while failing to check support for the violence could fuel copycats, they say
Shortly after visiting the injured officer in hospital, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung called it a “lone wolf-style act of domestic terrorism” and said in addition to the assailant, those who “customarily advocate violence, incite hatred against the country and beautify these attacks” should also be held responsible.
Tang said the attacker had been radicalised by hate speech and those who had “incited” him had “blood on their hands” as well.
While the city is now debating whether “domestic terrorism” is for real or fearmongering to justify a crackdown on anti-government activism, some experts on terrorism and mental health have cautioned against early labelling or jumping to conclusions that the attack could signal a trend, warning that it could create a “self-perpetuating problem”.
“When an act takes place which draws a lot of attention, be it terrorist or something else, the tendency is for others to emulate,” said Raffaello Pantucci, senior associate fellow at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, who has conducted research on terrorism and counterterrorism.