HONG KONG had long been renowned for the peacefulness of its protests and the tact with which police normally handled them. So it was a shock to the territory when, in 2014, police at first responded aggressively to pro-democracy unrest that began with large-scale demonstrations and continued with weeks of sit-ins on roads. The protesters’ means of defence against the pepper spray and tear gas gave its name to the movement: the Umbrella Revolution. It ended peacefully, but the damage had been done. Growing public mistrust of a vital institution was added to longstanding anxiety about China’s political influence in the territory. This does not augur well for Hong Kong’s stability.
For a long period under British colonial rule, Hong Kong’s police were widely reviled for their corruption; during violent anti-British unrest in the 1960s leftist radicals were rounded up even for peaceful protest. But the force’s image began to change in the 1970s: a new anti-graft body, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), purged its ranks. Public trust in the police helped ensure a smooth transfer from British to Chinese rule in 1997. Hong Kong’s...Continue reading
Source: China http://ift.tt/29PPc1v
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