“The police are the public, and the public are the police”, said Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern British policing. By this, he meant that police officers are drawn from the public, and they perform those duties which are incumbent on every citizen, in the interests of community welfare and existence. In Hong Kong, young people join the police force for various reasons, including a sense of mission, a commitment to the public good, and a desire to help others. In recent times, police officers have been sorely tested, but they emerged with flying colors, and have earned the right to appropriate recognition.
After the armed wing of the protest movement declared war on society in June 2019, the survival of Hong Kong was at stake. Using terror-style tactics, the insurgents were highly trained and well financed, and they set about wreaking mayhem. Egged on by anti-China elements in the UK, the US and elsewhere, which lauded their excesses and whitewashed their atrocities, their objective was to destroy the city.
Not content with torching public facilities, destroying private business, and vandalizing banks and restaurants, the insurgents brutalized anybody who disagreed with them, even killing one man with a brick and setting fire to another. Much of their hostility was directed at people from other parts of the country, and they brazenly tortured mainland visitors they seized at the airport. That people willing to perpetrate such atrocities had been nurtured in Hong Kong, a city known for its civilized values and decency, was a revelation, but it was clear that a cancer had taken hold, and needed to be excised.
The insurgents, of course, were not pursuing political reform, as their foreign backers pretended. They were hoping, by violence, to cripple the city, and bring the government to its knees. Once they realized, however, that they were not succeeding, they sought to provoke an armed intervention by Beijing, as this would bring an end to the “one country, two systems” paradigm, upon which Hong Kong’s future depends. Accordingly, they attacked the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, wrecked mainland businesses, destroyed national flags, and preached secessionism.
After months of urban warfare, however, all the insurgents were able to show for their efforts was the National Security Law, which is not quite what they wanted. Although their violence created huge damage to the city, none of their objectives was achieved, and many of them are now facing justice, lying low or lurking in exile. They did their worst, but both the central and regional governments held their nerve, and their campaign failed, for one clear reason. They were first outwitted, and then outmaneuvered, by the bravery, discipline and professionalism of the Hong Kong Police Force.
Faced with endless attacks by frenzied mobs, wielding Molotov cocktails, corrosive chemicals, bricks, knives, catapults, arrows and improvised weapons, the force’s young officers, led by capable commanders, held their ground, regularized dangerous situations, and got the measure of the rioters. That they achieved this without any of the fatalities caused by their counterparts in, for example, Chile, France, or the US, which have all recently faced riot situations, is little short of remarkable. It does, however, yet again underscore the force’s status as the pre-eminent police agency of the Asia-Pacific region.
It is, therefore, entirely appropriate that the force’s achievement in saving Hong Kong is being appropriately recognized, both publicly and privately. This not only demonstrates to its officers how much their sacrifices, and those of their families, who were also threatened, are appreciated, but it also boosts their morale at a crucial time. There could, after all, be a resumption of hostilities at any time, and it is vital that the force can see for itself that its work is fully appreciated by the public it serves.
It was, therefore, entirely fitting that, on Oct 1, the government announced that 94 awards had been granted to the police force in the honors list 2020, accounting for about 14 percent of the total. At least 12 officers, of all ranks, were recognized for their courage in confronting “ferocious assaults” by rioters. Several commanders, moreover, who had been personally targeted for victimization by the sinister London-based Hong Kong Watch, which has close ties to the former governor, Chris Patten, were recognized for their bravery in combating riots, which was particularly welcome.
On Feb 26, moreover, the Financial Secretary, Paul Chan Mo-po, announced that the force’s funding will rise by 25 percent over the previous year, to HK$25.8 billion ($3.3 billion), which was a significant show of support. It was also estimated that an extra 2,543 posts will be added to the 35,000-strong force in the next financial year, an increase of over 7 percent. Given the wider responsibilities now being undertaken by the police force, including those involving national security, it is obviously essential that it has all the manpower it requires, and the government’s measures will greatly enhance its operational capability.
On Dec 15, it was also revealed that, since October, police officers on front-line duty have been provided with high resolution cameras, which they can activate when necessary. This will help to protect them from what the force describes as “malicious and false allegations”, such being the stock-in-trade of the protest movement. Although such allegations are invariably baseless, and are designed to weaken the morale of dedicated officers and tie them up in time-consuming investigations, the new equipment will help to close down this line of abuse. It will also hopefully result in more prosecutions of people who file false complaints, with less than 10 percent of the 800 allegations leveled against the police being substantiated over the past year.
What, moreover, is particularly gratifying is the level of private support which has also been forthcoming, and which has boosted the police force’s welfare fund. On Dec 14, the force disclosed that it had received approximately HK$180 million in donations in the last year, which is more than 26 times the amount received in 2018-19. The welfare fund, which is established under the Police Force Ordinance (Cap.232), provides amenities for the enjoyment of officers and their families, compensates officers for extra services they have provided, and also makes loans, grants, allowances and gifts to them, as well as to the families of deceased officers.
The welfare fund has never been more important than in recent times, and it helps officers in many ways. Indeed, the fund’s total expenditure in the last financial year was HK$114.36 million, which was an increase of 190.4 percent over 2018-19. Grants to officers in hardship, for example, increased by 50 percent, to HK$9.78 million. During the protests, more than 10,000 front-line officers were on duty every day for extended periods, and the fund paid for the refreshments they needed when they were unable to return to base. Given the varied demands on the fund, the public’s generosity was undoubtedly a godsend.
In terms of breakdown, approximately 95 percent of the welfare fund’s income comes from donations, and it had a healthy surplus of HK$73.95 million in 2019-20. It is particularly heartening to learn that hundreds of donations came from individuals and companies, as this demonstrates how the law-abiding public has rallied behind its police force. Indeed, the Legislative Councilor, Elizabeth Quat Pui-fan, has described the spike in donations as proof that the people support the way in which the government and the police force have handled the protests, and in this she is undoubtedly correct.
Although a highly professional police force like ours will always do its duty, its morale is enhanced when its work is recognized, and this must continue. By saving the city at a time of crisis, the force has not only shown its worth, but earned the lasting gratitude of everyone who loves Hong Kong. That this has now manifested itself in very tangible ways is a source of satisfaction, not only for the force, but also for everyone who wants the city to have a great future.
The author is a senior counsel, law professor and criminal justice analyst, and was previously the director of public prosecutions of the Hong Kong SAR.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
