The Legislative Council’s Panel on Security passed a motion during a special meeting on Tuesday to condemn the protesters and back the police force, following the uncharacteristically violent Mong Kok protest which took place over the Chinese New Year.
The motion would see LegCo support police in their request for more manpower and riot gear in response to complaints that the officers had been unprepared during the overnight riot, RTHK reports.
During the meeting, lawmakers also rejected a petition to establish an independent committee, headed by a judge, to review the causes and facts of the so-called Fishball Revolution. The petition, which gained support from over 30 academics and professionals, had been signed by over 2,000 people by Tuesday morning.
Pro-government lawmaker Elizabeth Quat, who spearheaded the motion to condemn protesters, further called for the government to ban protesters from wearing masks, “like in Germany, Austria, Canada, and the [United States].” While Quat’s suggestion was met with support from her fellow pro-Beijing lawmakers, representatives for the Security Bureau and Hong Kong police avoided answering questions on how such a ban, if passed, could be enforced. They did, however, speak out against participants in the riot who concealed their identities, according to the SCMP.
During the meeting, Quat, a member of the pro-Beijing DAB party, said throwing bricks was “equal to [committing] murder”. Fellow party member Chris Chung, said protesters had “done everything… killing people and setting things on fire”, and pondered whether pro-democracy lawmakers who didn’t offer their condolences to injured police officers had “had [their] conscience stolen by dogs”.
We’re not entirely sure what deaths Chung – who is sometimes referred to as “Chirs”, in reference to his own name being misspelled in campaign materials – had in mind. No deaths were reported during the protest, although there was a rumour that a young woman who had been pinned down by four police officers had died. In reality, the woman was a long-haired man, and is reportedly doing fine.
Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok said he was concerned about the mask-wearing protesters from Mong Kok, whom he separated from peaceful and “honourable” demonstrators from previous protests.
Lai elaborated on his belief that the riot had in fact been carefully planned by the masked protesters, echoing Beijing official Zhang Xiaoming and Chief Executive CY Leung’s sentiment that the riot had been incited by a small group of politically motivated people, while dismissing the notion that “peace-loving” Hongkongers were frustrated by the government.
Civic Party member Claudia Mo criticised Lai for glossing over accusations of police brutality, as well as making “feel good” generalisations about the reasons for the civil unrest in Mong Kok.
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