Hong Kong’s expat police become focus of protester rage | SABC News – Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader.

  • 📰 SABC News Online
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 67 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 30%
  • Publisher: 51%

United States News News

United States United States Latest News,United States United States Headlines

Hong Kong’s 32,000-strong police force have found themselves fighting unprecedented running battles with protesters for the past five weeks following a huge backlash to a now-suspended plan to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland.

The crisis has placed officers in the firing line of public anger as the city's leaders appear unable, or unwilling, to offer any political solution

But among those singled out for specific retribution include a small group of expatriates who were some of the commanding officers on the frontlines during clashes where tear gas and rubber bullets were fired. “They have been through an ordeal,” Chief Inspector Neil Taylor, chairman of the Overseas Inspectors’ Association, told“But it’s not just them. Their kids have been targeted at school by bullies; a wife was approached in a supermarket and abused. That cannot be pleasant for anybody.”

The last were recruited in 1994 when the force stopped hiring from overseas. They are expected to reach retirement age around 2028. “As the years have gone by, and China’s rise has been much more pronounced, the Hong Kong government became politicised in the years following the handover,” he said.Many of the force’s bomb disposal experts are expat officers and won glowing local headlines last year for defusing a series of World War II-era bombs that were unearthed during construction works.

“Other western police forces have used far more force during crowd-control operations,” one officer told AFP.Two other officers AFP spoke to mentioned recent rallies in France where anti-government “yellow vest” protesters say at least 23 people lost an eye, primarily from plastic bullets and baton rounds.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 32. in US

United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

South Africans are negative - Baxter - SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader.Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter says South Africans are negative about their national team. He was speaking at the arrival of the national team from African Cup of Nations in Egypt on Saturday.
Source: SABC News Online - 🏆 32. / 51 Read more »

Police investigating Batchelor's murder - SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader.Police have confirmed that they are investigating a case of murder following the death of former professional footballer Marc Batchelor.
Source: SABC News Online - 🏆 32. / 51 Read more »

Springbok’s Dyantyi under injury threat | SABC News – Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader.
Source: SABC News Online - 🏆 32. / 51 Read more »