Conspiracy theories have been rife in Hong Kong on why the police suddenly pulled back their anti-riot squad in the city’s parliament, just before protesters rammed their way into the chamber on Monday evening.
Young, masked protesters began bashing down doors and windows to the Legislative Council (LegCo) building in the Admiralty area in the afternoon and ultimately broke into its ground floor lobby. They rampaged through rooms, scrawled graffiti, waved the colonial-era flag and covered the Hong Kong emblem with black ink, as more followed them and poured into the main chamber.
This occurred hours after officials in the former British colony, including embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam and LegCo President Andrew Leung, drank champagne with Beijing’s top envoys under heavy police protection to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the city’s handover, in a banquet hall insulated from the clamor from a mass of demonstrators passing nearby.
But it is worth noting that no one was injured, nor there was a single case of nearby shops or other property being ransacked. Protesters, while throwing a tantrum inside the LegCo, were careful not to destroy archives and valuable antiques. They even left cash inside a fridge as they grabbed drinks from a canteen there.
There were reportedly heated debates among them if they should remain inside the LegCo to force the government to back down, just like Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement in 2014, which saw the occupation of the island’s parliament, known as the Legislative Yuan.
The root cause of this latest protest was a controversial amendment bill to allow people accused of crimes to be extradited to mainland China.
Why did the police leave?
Two key questions have been asked about Monday’s wild scenes: 1/ Why did protesters storm the LegCo building? And 2/ Why were the police – officers in full riot gear guarding the LegCo – suddenly withdraw when protesters were banging on doors? This was a drama seen live on television from inside the building.
Not a single police officer was spotted after the pullback when protesters entered the LegCo at around 9pm, despite appeals from Leung and a number of lawmakers for police to guard the building.
The police’s absence contrasts sharply with the clashes on June 12 when elite squads raked the mob in Admiralty with tear gas, beanbag rounds and rubber bullets, after an anti-extradition bill rally ended with the main streets in the central business district being occupied.
It was only after midnight, when most protesters had left the LegCo building and fled to nearby streets, did police mount a clearance operation and fired a few canisters of tear gas to clear any remaining individuals.
The two chief superintendents from Britain, Rupert Dover and David Jordon, who led the head-on confrontation with protesters on June 12, were also seen commanding deployment at the scene on Monday.
A joint statement issued by pro-establishment lawmakers in the wee hours of Tuesday condemned the “extreme violence” but did not question the police’s failure to protect the LegCo building.
Some observers believe the police’s soft handling of Monday’s rally could be a bid to sway public opinion and let people see that people storming LegCo were rabid thugs and rioters, even though the inaction was tantamount to condoning wanton vandalism.
They said letting radicals charge the parliament also shifted the focus from a peaceful rally yesterday when about half a million or so people took to the streets to demand that Lam scrap the extradition bill and step down.
Lam avoids grilling
Others said the drama saved Lam from being grilled by pro-democracy lawmakers, as she was previously scheduled to attend a question-and-answer session at the LegCo, the first such one since the June 12 clashes.
Hong Kong papers said on Tuesday the LegCo chamber was plastered with slogans while equipment and doors were damaged, meaning that parliament would remain closed until after the summer recess.
The police returned later and have been back in the building gathering evidence against the intruders.
Officers were bolstered by a show of support by tens of thousands of pro-government people on Saturday. However, that event was marred by confrontations with anti-extradition bill protesters.
The crowd, estimated by police at tens of thousands, saw people chanting slogans and waving placards in supporting police over their handling of protests over recent weeks.
The Hong Kong Police Force had been accused of abusive action against “harmless” protesters during clashes outside the LegCo building on June 12 when tear gas and rounds of rubber bullets were fired, leaving at least 72 people injured.
The police called their action “very restrained”, but Amnesty International claimed there were 14 incidents of excessive use of force against the protesters.
Clashes during pro-police rally
On Saturday, pro-government lawmakers such as Maria Tam Wai-chu from Beijing’s Basic Law Committee, former police commissioner Tang King-Shing thanked officers for their restraint. However, a number of confrontations happened when the rally ended.
Videos showed some participants in the rally swearing and shouting slogans, calling anti-extradition bill protesters “Chinese traitors”. They were also seen tearing down posters put up by anti-extradition campaigners, such as notes on the so-called “Lennon Wall” outside the LegCo building. Other participants destroyed tributes set up to a protester who jumped to his death in Admiralty on June 15.
Lam Cheuk-ting, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, was attacked by dozens of pro-police supporters on a bridge. Videos of the scuffle show him being slapped in the face, and someone used an umbrella to hit him as he was pushed towards the side of the bridge, Hong Kong Citizen News reported.
A 15-year-old girl named Kelly claimed she was punched on the nose by a pro-police participant while walking on a footbridge because she and a classmate were wearing black shirts and facemasks. She later filed a police complaint after being found to have a fractured nose, HK01.com reported.
Journalists attacked
Journalists who covered the rally on Saturday were spat on, had mud thrown at them and were obstructed, abused and manhandled by pro-police groups, Radio Television Hong Kong reported.
Two journalists who were attacked ended up going to hospital for medical treatment. Police later arrested a 61-year-old woman for allegedly common assault.
The News Executives Association, the Journalists Association and the Press Photographers Association all issued statements strongly condemning the attack of journalists at the scene.
Meanwhile, the appearance of veteran Canton-pop superstars Alan Tam Wing-lun and Kenny Bee at the rally upset their fans. Tam reportedly said Hong Kong would be hopeless if protests persisted, while Bee said the younger generation should know what is right and wrong.
Fans of Tam and Bee later voiced disappointment. Some destroyed CDs and LPs put out by the stars to show their displeasure, Oriental Daily reported.
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