HK Police Step Up Violence

Police dressed as protesters hit people with extendable batons in the mall

The "shopping protests" have changed tactics to focus on shops catering to parallel traders, those who buy goods in Hong Kong and then take them across the border to sell at higher prices for a profit.

This has been going on for years and this was particularly egregious in 2012 to the point where districts near the mainland border ran out of goods like milk powder and it had to be rationed to two cans per customer. Back then parallel traders were called "locusts" for taking everything and leaving nothing behind.

People protest against parallel traders in Sheung Shui

So to put more pressure on the Hong Kong government to resolve the political crisis that has gripped the city for seven months, protesters targeted several shopping malls, including Landmark North shopping centre in Sheung Shui, the last district before the border with China.

The protesters shouted, "Five demands, not one less", "disband the police force", and also "go back to the mainland", aimed at Chinese daytrippers and parallel traders. This forced almost all the shops in the mall to close down for fear of potential vandalism.

But the protests also attracted the police, who stepped up their tactics in a more brutal way.

They dressed up like protesters and then without warning whipped out extendable batons and began attacking and arresting people. The riot police in uniform were nearby and also had no qualms beating up protesters until blood spilled.

There is a video on Twitter showing a young man being excessively beaten by riot police in Landmark North, and there is blood on one of the police shields.

This is the bloody arrest I was filming with @XinqiSu when I was pepper-sprayed, during a ‘Shop with You’ protest at Landmark North, Sheung Shui. Note the bloodied riot police shield. pic.twitter.com/MxeyRuIl1z

— Daniel Suen (@suen_daniel) December 28, 2019

 

Is this really necessary? Why not just arrest them and save energy to catch the next protester? Another brutal tactic of unleashing pepper spray at point blank range is also uncalled for.

This stepped up brutality not only further contravenes the Hong Kong police force's code of conduct, but shows officers are willing to use more violence to subdue protesters.

Is shooting pepper spray really necessary at close range?

Since Beijing has endorsed Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor during her latest duty visit earlier this month, it seems her way of quelling the protesters is with more violence.

This is totally outrageous. 

This is how Lam and police chief Chris Tang Ping-keung think they can end the protests?

While wounds may eventually heal, trauma does not go away and these shocking images will infuriate more people to come out to yet another large-scale protest march on January 1.

The people are not cowering. It's going to be a long fight.

Tensions Flare up in Sheung Shui

Several thousand people protested in Sheung Shui against parallel trading

This afternoon marchers dressed in black gathered in Sheung Shui, the district closest to the border with the mainland to protest against parallel traders who make a profit buying up products in Hong Kong.

Organizers say some 30,000 protesters showed up, the police say 4,000... you can decide how many from the above photograph. Some protesters held signs that read, "Reclaim Sheung Shui".

Mainlanders are snapping up goods from Hong Kong

As predicted the atmosphere was tense as parallel trading is a touchy issue -- mainlanders want to have quality products, and yet they are snapping up items aimed for the Hong Kong market, though some businesses are specifically catering to these traders and customers.

Some businesses, like pharmacies and shops selling beauty products or snacks took precautions and closed earlier in the afternoon, even though they supported the protests.

Rural leaders, Bowie Hau Chi-keung and Brian Kan Ping-chee were in the crowds lending their support. Hau asked his assistants to buy nine or 10 cases of drinks, which turned out to be Pocari Sweat, the Japanese drinks company that pulled its ads from TVB recently.

Kan, also a famous race horse trainer, said he opposed parallel trading as well. When asked if he had urged the government to deal with the issue, he said, "This government is useless!"

However things got tense after the march when the protesters didn't leave right away and the police, perhaps getting nervous, tried to disperse the crowds that outnumbered them. Some report the protesters initiated attacks on police, throwing umbrellas at them, but the retaliation was much worse. The police brandished batons that they swung at people resulting in bloody injuries.

Police attacking unarmed protesters after the march

Even reporters covering the event were attacked by police, who didn't make it easier for them to observe what was happening and instead became part of the story. One AFP reporter was at first reported as being struck on the head, but it turns out later she tripped and fell, but was quickly treated by first-aid volunteers and was even driven to the hospital by volunteers.

Covering these protests has become very dangerous work for reporters, and it's timely that tomorrow morning there will be a silent march in Admiralty to Wan Chai to protest how the police have treated reporters during violent protests.

Why are the police being so heavy handed with protesters? And why are many of the police not even in uniform? There are many wearing regular T-shirts, let alone not even displaying their ID numbers, which they should in their official capacity. Perhaps they are hoping the tense scuffles and wielding batons will scare of protesters from showing up at the next march?

This is hardly the way to diffuse tensions in Hong Kong, only escalating them.

Saga of Assault using a Breast Continues

Ng Lai-ying (left) expresses relief after emerging from court today

Last March in Yuen Long, at a protest against parallel traders who snap up goods in Hong Kong to sell across the border, a woman was charged for assaulting a police officer with her breast.

How one does that was hard to fathom and the story grabbed headlines around the world for such a bizarre charge. And women's rights protesters expressed bewilderment at how a breast could be a weapon.

Last March she was charged with assault using her breast

But Ng Lai-ying, 30, was actually convicted of this charge and today was able to appeal against going to jail, but was unable to overturn her conviction.

Mrs Justice Judianna Barnes wrote in her judgment that it appeared Ng was trying to get her boyfriend Kwong Chun-lung off the hook when she bumped into Inspector Chan Ka-po with her breast and yelled "indecent assault".

"Although her action could not be said to be excusable, the court should consider it was under this circumstance that she committed the offence," Justice Barnes said.

But the judge noted the offence remained serious in that she falsely accused Chan of indecent assault, which could have incited the crowd. She warned Ng that if she failed to display remorse, she could still face a jail term.

Last year protesters made fun of breasts being used as weapons

Kwong, 20 also managed to overturn his original sentence of time at a training centre, but was unable to overturn his conviction as well.

Outside the court, Ng gasped, "I was relieved", and added she and Kwong respected the court's decision.

The pair and two others will be sentenced on September 26, with the expectation of time doing community service.

Falsely claiming indecent assault is definitely wrong, but it's still interesting that a breast could be considered a weapon...

After the Race

Fifty "Umbrella soldiers" fought for seats on the district council, seven won

The results of the Hong Kong District Council election yesterday were interesting, with some big wins, big losses and a few surprises.

Albert Ho lost his seat yesterday

The big win for Hong Kong was that of the 3.12 million people eligible to vote, 47 percent cast ballots. That's a huge jump and many believe last year's protests sparked the public's interest in democracy and taking advantage of their right to vote for those who will best represent their grassroots interests.

However the biggest shocks were two pan-democratic heavyweights who lost their seats -- The Democratic Party's Albert Ho Chun-yan, and Fredrick Fung Kin-kee of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood.

Junius Ho soundly unseated incumbent Albert Ho

Ho was beaten by his main rival, former Law Society president Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, who vehemently opposed the Umbrella Movement. Another reason Albert Ho may have lost is because he was caught looking at pictures of scantily-clad women on his tablet during Legco...

The next interesting observation was that the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong or DAB didn't see a rise in support, but a slight dip. Established lawmaker Christopher Chung Shu-kun was defeated by a relatively unknown "Umbrella soldier", Chui Chi-kin, which is very interesting. Chui and six other "Umbrella soldiers" won seats on the district council.

This is perhaps due to the young vote coming out in droves, rallying others to cast their ballots on Facebook. These rookies will have a lot to learn in the coming year and it will be interesting to watch them evolve from protest organizers to trying to influence policy at the grassroots level.

Gary Fan fights for localism on the district council and Legco

Then there are the NeoDemocrats, who are more radical in their beliefs, and in yesterday's elections won 15 out of 16 seats. One of them is Gary Fan Kwok-wai, who is also the group's only representative in the Legislative Council. He is very active in promoting localism, urging the government to make Hong Kong people the priority in setting policy. Fan also protested against parallel trading in the New Territories.

In Kennedy Town & Mount Davis, as expected DAB incumbent Chan Hok-fung kept his seat. It's strange Youngspiration, a party established following the Umbrella Movement would choose to contest this area when there is already a Democratic Party candidate. Why not choose a neighbourhood that isn't contested or only has a DAB politician running?

Hopefully the "Umbrella soldiers" will conduct a serious post-mortem on their performance and be more strategic about where they run and how they conduct their campaigns. Nevertheless, considering they hardly had many resources, youth is on their side and perhaps they will do better in the future.

In the meantime there are lots of questions regarding the elderly been driven to polling stations by "volunteers" and strangely given their Hong Kong ID cards after they arrived. After voting, some seniors told reporters they couldn't remember who they voted for or that they were instructed who to vote for.

Ah the drama. But in the meantime pleased to see Hong Kong's political consciousness awakened! The Umbrella Movement was not in vain after all!

Defending the Breast(s)

Protesters came out showing off their bras, including some men!

If there was a protest march I should have checked out, it was yesterday's in Hong Kong.

A group of people, about 200 of them gathered in front of the police headquarters in Wan Chai to protest the sentence of Ng Lai-ying, 30, who was jailed for three months and 15 days for assaulting a police officer with her breast.

She was arrested back on March 1, when she took part in a protest against parallel tradeing in Yuen Long, and when she said that during scuffles with police, chief inspector Chan Ka-po tried to grab her bag, but instead grabbed her breast.

Ng Lai-ying was arrested for assault using her breast

Ng accused him of indecent assault, but instead Chan accused her of assaulting him with her breast.

When the case went to court in July, magistrate Michael Chan Pik-kiu said Ng tried to damage the policeman's reputation, even though he suffered no injury.

Protesters who came out yesterday were outraged.

"Breast is not a weapon," they chanted. There were many liberal men who wore bras, while some women wore them on top of T-shirts or waved bras around.

"The way I dress today looks quite ugly as a male, but it is not as ugly as the judgement, which is like pointing at a deer and calling it a horse, and the police's decision to prosecute Ng without following guidelines," said social worker Jordi Tsang Sing-cheung, wearing a coconut bra.

Someone should have taken an informal survey to see how the men felt about wearing the bras...

Anyway, the magistrate later admitted he was threatened and feared for his safety since the verdict, but that didn't stop some protesters from carrying signs that read: "God will punish".

Protesters mock police by pretending to grab a man's breasts!

"It is very shocking and regrettable when a woman who says she's been molested is interpreted as causing chaos. It will deter women from taking part in social movements and deprive them of the right to take part in political activities," said Luk Kit-ting, a spokeswoman for the group.

While the protest gathering was not legal since the group had not given advance notice to the police, the authorities raised a yellow flag to warn them that this was an unlawful assembly and they could be prosecuted.

However, the warning was ignored and the protesters left peacefully after they handed a petition to a police representative.

Perhaps the authorities were amused by the unusual protest, as summed up by retired teacher James Hon, who was also sporting a bra for the first time: "We have come to this rather odd method to tell the world how ridiculous it is."

Ng is going to appeal the sentence. We wonder if Lady Justice will put her blindfold back on to ensure a fair trial...

Boobs are Weapons in Hong Kong

Is this how the magistrate envisioned a woman assaulting an officer?

Can someone please explain the justice?

A Hong Kong woman was convicted of using her breast to assault a police officer during a protest march against parallel traders in Yuen Long on March 1. Today Ng Lai-ying, 30, was sentenced to three months and 15 days in jail.

Ng Lai-ying was convicted of assault with her breast...

In handing down the sentence, Deputy Magistrate Michael Chan Pik-kiu told Ng and a packed courtroom: "If I do not hand down a deterring sentence, the public might mistakenly think it is a trivial matter to assault police officers during protests."

But how do you assault someone with a breast?

She was the one who sustained a bloody nose from falling on the ground!

From the pictures one can see Ng is not heavy chested -- and the police officer said his right arm was assaulted by her mammary gland. It is unclear what injuries the officer sustained...

Meanwhile a retiring police superintendent was filmed on television using excessive force beating up an Occupy protestor with his baton.

... while Franklin Chu (in white) claimed he "patted" protesters

In an investigative hearing, Sha Tin divisional commander Franklin Chu King-wai, who is now retired, said that the baton was a mere "extension of [his] arm", with which he had "patted" passers-by to speed up pedestrian traffic.

Thankfully in this case the Independent Police Complaints Council is upholding its ruling that Chu committed assault. But for him to say he merely "patted" the protesters is absurd when there is video evidence.

One wonders what his idea of an assault is.

But this is rule of law in Hong Kong, where a woman can be convicted of assaulting a police officer with her breast, and a police superintendent claims he "patted" someone with his baton.

Just another week in the city...

Still Business as Usual?

Is the new restriction on visits to Hong Kong going to impact parallel traders?

We now hear the latest measures limiting parallel traders coming to Hong Kong to once a week has become effective immediately, and reaction has been swift.

Some say because there is still such a high demand for goods from Hong Kong across the border that parallel trading businesses will find other ways to get stuff that's in demand, like milk powder, chocolates, shampoo and toothpaste.

"Instead of hiring one person to conduct the trade three times a day, they will probably hire three people to do it once a day," said student Dicky Chung, a North District resident.

An employee at a pharmacy in Sheung Shui suggested that parallel trading ringleaders would recruit Hong Kong people to transport products. "We're talking about a HK$200 profit margin per day, or about HK$5,000 to HK$6,000 a month. Who wouldn't do it?" he said.

We will have to wait and see how this new restriction will affect parallel traders -- will they hire more people to help them bring goods across the border? Is it really that worth it? Or because it's harder to get access to these goods that prices for them in China will increase?

The Hong Kong government claims the latest measures will reduce the number of parallel traders by 30 percent, or about 4.6 million a year, but it is believed parallel traders will have something up their sleeves to keep their lucrative businesses going.

No one has a good idea of how much really is brought across the border to resell and how much profit is made out of parallel trading. Obviously mainlanders are doing a brisk business otherwise they would not be doing this on a daily basis. But it would be interesting to find out exactly what kinds of products are in demand, who buys them and why.

Besides, we need this market research for the shopping malls we're apparently building near the border just for this segment of people who come to Hong Kong...

Breakthrough at Last

Anger against parallel traders have escalated to protests and pepper spray

Finally after years of complaints that have led to protests and physical altercations, the Shenzhen municipal government has announced today that permanent residents visiting Hong Kong will be limited to one a week.

It is predicted this latest measure, that has yet to be announced when it will be implemented, will cut the number if visits by this group of people by 30 percent and crackdown on rampant parallel trading.

A notice circulated on the internet said that an urgent meeting had been held in Shenzhen at 11am on Saturday on a decision by the State Council to approve an "adjustment" in the number of trips a multiple-entry permit holder could make to Hong Kong.

The online announcement was confirmed by both Shenzhen police and Hong Kong government sources.

Parallel traders will have to reduce their visits to Hong Kong

If a multiple-entry permit holder fails to visit Hong Kong in a single week, the quota could not be used for future visits, so the maximum number of visits each year is 52.

The Hong Kong government said it had submitted the proposal to the central government to adjust the multiple-entry policy a few months ago. "Any adjustment to the policy is pending the central government's announcement," it said in a statement.

It is a relief to hear this is finally happening, though this proposal should have been submitted a few years ago when some Hong Kong people began calling mainlanders "locusts" for snapping up all kinds of goods to take home.

We have to wonder if the Hong Kong government thought this tension would blow over, or was in denial this problem would escalate to skirmishes with both police and parallel traders. Or did was Beijing not interested in entertaining this request?

Nevertheless we're glad someone is finally listening and will soon implement what we hope will be the beginning of other measures to reduce tensions between mainlanders and locals in the city.

Misaligned Opinion

Leung Chun-ying is wondering where all the mainland shoppers are...

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying says there is an "alarming" drop in the number of visitors coming to the city in recent weeks and he blames it on the stronger Hong Kong dollars, the economic situation in other countries, but most importantly on protests against parallel traders.

This was confirmed by Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung Yao-chung who said the number of mainland tour groups dropped 20 percent since the anti-parallel trader protests.

Leung says there was an alarming drop in the number of visitors coming to Hong Kong during the Easter break. Maybe it's because there China does not celebrate the crucifixion and then rebirth of Jesus, nor does it believe in bunny rabbits and Easter eggs?

This past weekend people in China were busy marking Ching Ming! Perhaps they wanted to pay respects to their ancestors than go shopping in Hong Kong?

In any event, for Leung to say the drop is "alarming" is amusing, as the Hong Kong government hasn't done much to mediate the situation, which has led to protests escalating to minor skirmishes with the police.

But the bad publicity surrounding mainlanders crossing the border several times a day to buy up Hong Kong stocks of milk powder, shampoo, chocolates, cookies and skincare products to bring back to the mainland to sell has resulted in possible changes to travel permits.

Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office deputy director Zhou Bo said the individual visit scheme that allows residents of 49 cities to travel to Hong Kong without joining tour groups, and multiple-entry permits that grant 2 million permanent Shenzhen residents unlimited trips were to be "refined to better suit Hong Kong's situation"... whatever that means.

There have been countless debates in the media about parallel traders -- some readers welcome them because after all, Hong Kong is a port city that became what it was through trading.

Others are tired of not being able to buy necessities because shops are cleaned out by parallel traders and want more restrictions in place.

It's interesting that both the Hong Kong and Chinese governments did not forsee the impact of parallel traders in the city, and how this would negatively affect our community.

All this because China cannot get its act together on food safety -- since at least 2008.

What's really "alarming" is Leung not thinking parallel traders are hurting Hong Kong's image, but the protesters.

Didn't he pledge to serve Hong Kong people and their interests?

Simmering Tensions

Parallel traders have sparked conflicts between Hong Kong and China

The tense issue of parallel traders clearing shelves in Hong Kong to sell supposedly "real" goods across the border is not going away, thanks to the inaction of the government.

Hong Kong officials have let the tensions simmer to the point where protesters are escalating their actions, verbally bullying people, physically assaulting people, and holding up traffic. It has been happening in Yuen Long, Sheung Shui and Tuen Mun, and this past weekend also spread to Tsim Sha Tsui.

Instead of trying to solve the problem, officials like Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok claims the protesters' actions were "close to that of rioters".

Protesters in New Town Plaza in Sha Tin last month

It's quite extreme for him to brand them "rioters" because it was not excessive violence, but yes, we should be trying to resolve the situation as peacefully as possible.

And who's fault is that?

The Hong Kong government could very easily limit the number of times parallel traders could come across the border daily, and yet this has not been curbed, probably because it wants these people to continue stimulating the city's economy.

After all, the parallel traders are snapping up everything from baby milk powder, to shampoo, chocolates, cosmetics, cookies and so on -- whatever is in demand and can be turned into a profit.

That has left a sour taste in Hong Kong residents' mouths -- particularly those in districts that are impacted by these people. I recently asked a relative if things were really bad in Tuen Mun where she lived and she confirmed it was terrible.

A shop like Watson's would be packed with people and so she would have no choice but to nip in there as quickly as possible to buy what she needed and then get out. There was no interest in trying to fight the crowds in the store to browse.

The government is planning to build shopping malls right by the border specifically for these commercial shoppers, but that's a ways yet before we might even begin to see some easing.

Another issue is that for some reason, the cause for universal suffrage has been mixed up with this one on parallel trading. Some see the protesters as the same ones in the Umbrella Movement, and claim that their violent actions are what people fighting for democracy do.

It's a kind of scare tactic someone or some group is using to to discourage people from supporting the Umbrella Movement, and in a way it is succeeding because no one wants to be associated with a group that is very easily provoked into violence.

In the end the Hong Kong government needs to move in and resolve this issue -- branding protesters as "rioters" will not solve anything.

And more importantly, Beijing needs to step up its campaign to prove its food and products are not substandard quality to regain consumer confidence. It's been over six years since the melamine milk scandal and what has come of it since? Can anyone blame Chinese consumers for buying up anything they can get their hands on -- outside their own country?

The Invasion of Tuen Mun

Lots of people lining up for the convenient B3X bus to Shenzhen Port Bay

China really needs to fix its product quality issues, from food to shampoo. Hong Kong has had enough of parallel traders invading residential areas and snapping up goods to sell across the border.

Today was evidence of that frustration with a massive protest in Tuen Mun that resulted in police unleashing pepper spray.

Residents were protesting against not only the parallel traders, but also those enabling them, like Citybus' express B3X, that for HK$11 runs from Shenzhen Bay Port to Tuen Mun Town Centre. The bus mostly carries mainlanders and those shuttling goods across the border several times a day.

Two weeks ago 12,000 mainlanders took advantage of the offer of a free ride on that bus that was organized by three shopping malls in the district.

Protesters out in full force against shoppers invading Tuen Mun

"Every time I walk home, I can't get by because I am blocked by a horde of [mainlanders] with luggage on the pavement," said one Tuen Mun resident.

The parallel traders seemed unfazed by the protest, with some taking photos of the event on their phones or as their bus went by, gave protesters the middle finger.

The protest also moved to malls, and when protesters arrived at Tuen Mun Town Plaza, tensions devolved into a shoving match and police launched pepper spray into the crowd. From pictures it looks like police were about to unleash pepper spray in the mall, which will surely result in questions on judgment in crowd control in a confined space.

Batons were also used resulting in injuries on both sides.

Is this the best way to handle the situation?

Why is the Hong Kong government standing idly by while these conflicts continue? Is it still trying to boost its retail figures that saw dismal numbers in December?

Some mainlanders admit they don't want to come to Hong Kong, but they want to know the food and products they buy are safe. Their lack of confidence has stimulated Hong Kong's economy but has resulted in social conflicts that do not bode well for the city's eventual integration with the mainland...

Perhaps government officials should come to Tuen Mun and live a day in the life of residents there to really see what's going on. But of course that's wishful thinking...