HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong police arrested a 24-year-old man at the city’s airport in the early hours of Thursday on suspicion of attacking and injuring an officer during protests against a new national security law that Beijing imposed on the financial center.
Chinese national flags are seen on the ground during a march against national security law on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s transfer to China from Britain in Hong Kong, China on July 1, 2020. REUTERS / Tyrone Siu
Hong Kong police fired water cannons and tear gas and arrested more than 300 people on Wednesday when protesters took to the streets in defiance of the security legislation China introduced to eliminate dissent.
On Wednesday, police posted photos on Twitter of an officer with a bleeding arm saying he was stabbed by “protesters holding sharp objects.” The suspects fled while passers-by did not offer help, police said.
A police spokesman told Reuters the arrested man was named Wong, but could not confirm whether he was leaving Hong Kong or working at the airport.
Local newspaper Apple Daily, citing unidentified sources, said the suspect was on board a Cathay Pacific flight to London that was due to depart just before midnight.
A witness said that “about 10 minutes before takeoff, three police vehicles headed for gate No. 64, outside the Cathay Pacific plane,” and about 10 riot police climbed the bridge onto the plane.
Local television Cable television, citing a police source, said that the police received an anonymous call at 11:43 pm, 12 minutes before the flight’s scheduled departure, that the suspect was heading to London. He bought a one-way ticket about two hours after the stabbing, the only purchase for that flight made on Wednesday, and arrived at the airport without luggage.
He had an expired British passport abroad, a special status created under British law in 1987 that specifically relates to Hong Kong and provides a route to citizenship, the source told Cable TV.
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 and that confidentiality would be guaranteed.
The money would come through 803.hk, a website linked to Leung, which offers “crowdfunded” rewards for information leading to the prosecution of some anti-government protesters. The site’s name refers to an incident on August 3, 2019, when a Chinese national flag was thrown into the sea during a protest.
Police said Wednesday they had made around 370 arrests for illegal gathering and other crimes, 10 of which involved violations of the new security law.
The 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.
China’s parliament adopted the law in response to last year’s protests sparked by fears that Beijing was stifling the city’s freedoms, guaranteed by a “one country, two systems” formula agreed upon when it returned to the Chinese government in 1997. Beijing denies the accusation.
Chinese state media praised the passage of the law on Thursday and said it would bring “prosperity and stability.”
“We must face the fact that the existence of legal loopholes in safeguarding national security has already caused Hong Kong society to pay a very high price,” read a comment in People’s Daily, the official Communist Party newspaper. .
($ 1 = HK $ 7.7504)
Additional reports by Anne Marie Roantree and Clare Jim; Written by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Michael Perry
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