Police warn HK public of potential violent protests
Print Edition
HONG Kong police said yesterday that they had arrested nine people and seized materials for making explosives at a suburban former TV studio, as the city goes on high alert ahead of a crucial vote on an electoral reform package.
Police arrested five men and four women aged from 21 to 34 for conspiracy to manufacture explosives, said Chief Superintendent Au Chin-sau of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau.
Au told a news briefing yesterday that some were members of a local radical group, but did not give an exact number or identify the group.
“During police inquiries someone claimed to be a member of a local radical organization,” Au said.
He described the group as a “local syndicate involved in manufacturing explosives.”
Police said officers found “several kilograms” of a solid substance and five liters of a liquid believed to be used to make explosives at the abandoned studio in the eastern district of Sai Kung, with some chemicals detonated at the scene.
Police also found about 2 liters of a raw material used to make triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, at one of the suspect’s homes. TATP is the explosive that was used in the 2005 London bombings that killed 52 commuters.
Police said they also seized air rifles, a formula to make smoke grenades, and masks bearing the likeness of Guy Fawkes, who was behind a failed 1605 plot to blow up Britain’s Parliament. The masks were popularized by the movie “V for Vendetta.”
Police also found maps of the Wan Chai and Admiralty neighborhoods, the latter home to the city legislature and government headquarter complex but also the People’s Liberation Army’s main base and numerous luxury hotels and office towers.
“There is a possibility that this group of people may want to do something in those particular locations,” Au said.
The overnight police raids involving scores of officers came three days after police warned they were monitoring on-line activity to track anyone planning to incite violence, as tensions run high before debate in the Legislative Council begins tomorrow.
Dozens of officers were on patrol yesterday near government headquarters, where metal fences have been erected.
The South China Morning Post said police suspect the explosives “were intended to be detonated before the Legislative Council debates on the government’s political reform package this week.”
The reform bill lays out a plan for choosing the city’s next leader by public vote for the first time in 2017.
But it is sticking to a ruling from the National People’s Congress which stipulates that the prospective candidates must be vetted by an election committee.
Some rallies are due to take place before the vote expected on Friday in Hong Kong’s legislature on the divisive roadmap for the city’s electoral system, which led to mass protests in the city at the end of last year.
Au did not directly link the arrests to the protests, but warned: “Should there be any confrontations, citizens should protect their own safety, leave the scene at once and maintain a safe distance with the violent protesters.”
The atmosphere was calm outside the legislature last night, where around 200 people gathered to listen to speeches.
Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam has appealed to opposition legislators to support the government’s plan.
If it is vetoed, Hong Kong will be afflicted by continuing division, antagonism and meaningless squabbling, and Hong Kong citizens will eventually become victims, Lam wrote in an article published in yesterday’s Ming Pao daily.
Lam looked back on her 35 years’ government experience, especially consultations and activities she took part in since October 2013, and said her only goal was to send votes to 5 million eligible Hong Kong people.
Lam has said the administration will not make any last-minute concessions to win over the opposition legislators. She stressed that having “one person, one vote” in 2017 is better than the status quo.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, meanwhile, told lawmaker “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung to come clean about allegations he was offered a “bribe” to vote for the package.
Leung said he made up the figure of HK$100 million (US$13 million) to attract attention, the South China Morning Post reported, but stood by his allegation he was approached by a “middleman” offering cash.
The package requires two-thirds of the 70-seat house to pass.
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