Hong Kong police arrest suspect in stabbing after protests over security law

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong police arrested a 24-year-old man at the city’s airport early Thursday on suspicion of stabbing an officer during protests against a new Beijing-imposed national security law in downtown financial.

The arrest followed the latest protests on Wednesday in which police fired water cannons and tear gas and arrested more than 300 people when protesters defied China’s security legislation to eliminate dissent.

There were no signs of protests on Thursday.

Police posted photos on Twitter of Wednesday’s riots showing the officer with a bleeding arm saying he was stabbed by “rioters holding sharp objects.” The suspects fled while onlookers did not offer help, police said.

A police spokesman said the arrested man was named Wong, but could not confirm whether he was leaving Hong Kong or working at the airport.

The media, citing unidentified sources, said the suspect was on board a Cathay Pacific flight to London that was due to leave just before midnight. A witness said three police vehicles were headed for a door when a Cathay Pacific plane was preparing to take off and about 10 riot policemen climbed the bridge onto the plane.

The suspect had an expired British passport abroad, a special status that provides a route for citizens, the source told the cable television station.

Cathay Pacific did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying posted on Facebook on Wednesday that a reward of HK $ 500,000 ($ 64,513) would be offered to anyone who helps catch the fugitive.

China’s parliament adopted the security law in response to last year’s protests sparked by fears that Beijing was stifling the city’s freedoms and threatening its judicial independence, guaranteed by an agreed “one country, two systems” formula. when he returned to the Chinese government in 1997.

Beijing denies the accusation.

Officials in Hong Kong and Beijing have said the law is vital to plug gaps in the national security defenses exposed by the protests, noting that the city did not pass such laws on its own as required by its mini-constitution, the Basic Law.

Another unmet constitutional requirement for Hong Kong is to introduce universal suffrage, the main demand for protesters.

DIPLOMATIC VOLTAGE

The new law punishes crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison. She will also see mainland security agencies in Hong Kong for the first time and allow extradition to the mainland for trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party.

Ten of the arrests made Wednesday involved violations of the new law, police said, and most of the 360 ​​more or less involved illegal assemblies and other crimes.

In the latest diplomatic tension over the law, China said Britain would have all the consequences for any offer to Hong Kong citizens of a path to settlement.

China also denounced the United States after the United States House of Representatives passed legislation that would penalize banks doing business with Chinese officials who implement national security law in Hong Kong.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the United States “should stop advancing the bill, let alone sign or implement it.” [L1N2E82R1]

Democratically ruled and claimed by China, Taiwan advised its citizens to avoid unnecessary visits or transit through Hong Kong, Macao or mainland China. Britain and Canada have also updated their travel notices for Hong Kong, warning their citizens about the risks of detention.

Apparently seeking to allay fears that judges for national security cases would be chosen by unpopular Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, chief justice Geoffrey Ma said they would be appointed on the basis of judicial and professional qualities, instead of politics.

Hong Kong’s independent judiciary, one of the many freedoms guaranteed when it returned to Chinese rule, has been seen as key to its success as a global financial center.