Hong Kong protests: Police chief says 'rioters' should apologise for city's chaos

Published: 
South China Morning Post
Listen to this article

Commissioner Chris Tang said the police should not have to say sorry for their alleged violence during the ongoing social unrest

South China Morning Post |
Published: 
Comment

Latest Articles

Tatler to give fans 50% ticket refund for Messi’s Hong Kong no-show by May

An intense smell from a rare corpse flower attracts visitors in San Francisco

Hong Kong grocery chain DCH goes out of business after 39 years

Hong Kong logs coldest start to March since 2016

Icelandic peninsula sees fourth volcanic eruption since December

Police chief Chris Tang greets the media at a Central and Western District Council meeting.

Police chief Chris Tang rejected the idea on Thursday that the force should apologise for their alleged violence during the ongoing protests, saying the "rioters" need to say sorry for the harm they've caused the city.

Even as he refused to back down, Commissioner of Police Chris Tang Ping-keung conceded the force could have handled the social unrest better during a two-hour grilling by predominantly pro-democracy Central and Western District Council members at a meeting to discuss the force’s conduct over the past months since the anti-government protests began last June.

Carrie Lam's HK$10 billion welfare package 

So far, 7,019 people have been arrested during the movement sparked by an aborted extradition bill, with 1,092 prosecutions brought to the courts, including 547 cases of rioting.

Asked whether the police had made mistakes in handling the protesters, Tang said: “Of course there is room for improvement … including in terms of our actions and strategies, communication with the media, our gear and my colleagues’ attitudes when talking to citizens.”

During the rowdy session in which police supporters exchanged angry words with the councillors, the elected officials displayed photos and videos of protesters’ bloodied faces. Venting their anger, they accused Tang of blindly protecting his men as no officers had been punished despite demonstrators’ claims they were assaulted during dispersal actions.

Democratic Party lawmaker and district councillor Ted Hui Chi-fung asked Tang whether officers were so “perfect and flawless” or were the top brass covering for their rank and file.

Hui also asked whether Tang would apologise to the public for what he and other councillors called “police violence”.

Police consider arming officers with tasers and net guns 

Tang replied: “It is the rioters who should apologise for the harm they have done to society.”

He added that any officers found to have committed crimes would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

On a recent poll that revealed 40 per cent of Hongkongers gave the force a satisfaction score of zero, Tang admitted public perception was “relatively bad” and worsening, but said it was partly because citizens were being misled by fake news.

Is it reasonable that the police have been given HK$1 billion in overtime pay? 

He rejected a call from councillor Ho Chi-wang to resign, saying he was in the right and that the people urging him to quit were just afraid of his righteousness.

He categorically rejected remarks from councillors that there was “police brutality” in the city, telling those who claimed they have been mistreated by the force to formally file a complaint to the police’s complaints division.

Councillor Camille Yam Ka-yi told Tang that, after a recent demonstration, she saw that police had arrested a group of protesters in Central and tried to get close to assist the detained. But the officers responded by calling her a “cockroach” and shone a bright light in her eyes, she said.

Supporters cheer police chief Chris Tang as he arrives at a Central and Western District Council meeting.
Photo: SCMP/ Xiaomei Chen

Tang said it was inappropriate for officers to use such language. Police have long referred to the protesters as cockroaches, with the other side often referring to members of the force as dogs.

The meeting was packed with police supporters, some of whom called journalists present “rogue reporters” and one suggesting they should be assaulted.

Council member Napo Wong Weng-chi waved a piece of raw pork at Tang, invoking a Chinese saying to accuse police of falsely arresting protesters.

Sign up for the YP Teachers Newsletter
Get updates for teachers sent directly to your inbox
By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy
Comment