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Opinion | Hongkongers won’t tolerate any police spin on Yuen Long mob attack
- Public anger over a police superintendent’s attempt to write off the violence on July 21 as a fight between two groups of people, despite widely seen footage showing otherwise, can only be pacified by an independent investigation into what happened
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Under the national security law, “white terror” has descended on Hong Kong. On the surface, the city seems to be calmer than during the months of angry protests last year, but public anger against political suppression remains. If the government intends to patch things up with the Hong Kong people and restore social order permanently, an independent investigation into alleged police brutality must be launched.
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The city needs answers for major incidents like the attack on protesters in Yuen Long on July 21 last year, and at Prince Edward MTR Station on August 31. Otherwise, furious Hong Kong people will take to the streets again some day.
Unfortunately, the government is doing the opposite. The police appear to have twisted the facts over the Yuen Long incident and redefined it as a fight between two groups of people on an equal footing. They also arrested Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, who was at the station when the attacks occurred. He is accused of rioting and stoking the violence. His fellow party member, Ted Hui Chi-fung, was arrested on the same day under another charge.
At a press conference, senior superintendent Chan Tin-chu gave a version of events that many people saw as a lie. He criticised media coverage of the incident, saying the video footage published was lopsided and misleading.
02:24
Hong Kong lawmaker charged with rioting over Yuen Long attack accuses police of ‘rewriting history’
Hong Kong lawmaker charged with rioting over Yuen Long attack accuses police of ‘rewriting history’
It is a fact that the July 21 attack was a turning point of the protest movement. That day, public attention was at first focused on the clashes on Hong Kong Island, where some radical protesters had vandalised the central government liaison office. Then, as the attack in Yuen Long happened, shown to the world via live reporting, people’s attention shifted.
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Footage captured by journalists and regular Hongkongers showed a white-shirted mob beating up black-shirted young people on the streets, and passengers inside the MTR station. Some videos also showed the police passing by the mob without taking any action.
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