Unique | No protest requests in Hong Kong have been rejected since 2022: safety chief Chris Tang – Cyber Tech

Hong Kong’s safety chief has revealed authorities haven’t rejected a single protest software since 2022 as he argued the dearth of demonstrations within the metropolis was not an indication of civil society in retreat, however because of the availability of a number of channels to specific opinions.

Secretary for Safety Chris Tang Ping-keung instructed the Publish that Hongkongers might have avoided protesting lately as a result of they’d simpler channels to register their views and the federal government additionally now had a heightened “responsiveness” in direction of public opinion.

“We interact in plenty of discussions with totally different teams once they have an opinion, we pay attention and we react. In all probability they think about [this as] higher than, you understand, simply exit on the road and cry, as a result of now we have dialogue, we react,” Tang mentioned, with out disclosing what number of protest purposes had been made up to now since 2022.

“I believe you can not simply rely the variety of what number of of these protests or [expressions] of opinion to replicate the extent of freedom in Hong Kong.”

The town’s most outspoken rally organisers have disbanded lately. Each the Civil Human Rights Entrance, the umbrella activist group behind a lot of Hong Kong’s largest protests, and the Hong Kong Alliance in Assist of Patriotic Democratic Actions of China, which organised the annual candlelight vigil for the Tiananmen Sq. Crackdown, disbanded in 2021.

However Tang mentioned residents nonetheless continued to get pleasure from the appropriate to assemble beneath the legislation, and that the Public Order Ordinance, which governs public processions and gatherings, has not been amended.

Police imposed such necessities for the rally organised by a bunch of house owners in Tseung Kwan O protesting towards reclamation.

In line with the safety minister, police have arrested simply over 10,000 individuals, of whom about 3,000 have been prosecuted.

“I wish to reiterate that until it’s prescribed by the legislation that there’s a time restrict for prosecution, or else so long as now we have adequate proof, then we will all the time proceed with the case,” Tang mentioned.

Refuting the argument that urgent costs 5 years after an arrest was tantamount to justice denied and didn’t assist in police-community ties, Tang argued the complexity of the protest instances warranted extended investigation as police needed to comb by appreciable reels of CCTV footage to establish arrested individuals and their alleged actions.

“As legislation enforcement, our duty is to assemble proof after which put it to the Division of Justice for consideration of prosecution,” Tang mentioned.

“Whether or not you attempt to have good relations with the youth after which forfeit the obligation to prosecute is just not our duty.”

However Tang mentioned relations between the police power and Hongkongers had improved within the 5 years since protests towards the controversial anti-extradition invoice had descended into widespread, and infrequently violent, clashes between protesters and the power.

Describing the connection as being “again to regular”, Tang mentioned the prosecution of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Day by day to eradicate “false data” that incited hatred had cleared the air between residents and the power.

“I’d say the group now understands, so there’s no purpose why they nonetheless dislike legislation enforcement,” Tang mentioned.

Throughout his tenure as safety chief, Tang had repeatedly lambasted the Hong Kong Journalists Affiliation, accusing the group of getting “no recognition” and questioning the skilled credentials of the candidates for its government committee election final month.

Final week, its newly elected chairwoman Selina Cheng was sacked by her employer The Wall Road Journal, an American newspaper. Cheng mentioned she had been fired for her function within the union.

“I believe it’s not a well-recognised affiliation. Is it as a result of The Wall Road Journal needs to distance [itself] from them or no matter? I attempt to not speculate,” Tang mentioned.

Tang additionally dismissed considerations that the sacking signified shrinking press freedoms within the metropolis.

“I believe it’s not right to place an equation saying you sacked somebody, it’s due to political causes or its suppressing press freedom. It’s very harmful to place an equal signal there,” Tang commented.