UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday called for a “robust, independent” investigation into police’s use of force at a June 12 anti-extradition bill protest, announcing that, in the meantime, the former colonial power will be halting the export of crowd control equipment to Hong Kong.
The UK has been one of many foreign governments to criticize the extradition bill — which has spurred weeks of massive protests that are still ongoing — but it faced criticism itself after it was found that the tear gas used against protesters at the June 12 rally had been manufactured in Britain.
Speaking to the House of Commons yesterday, Hunt reiterated that the UK remained “very concerned with the situation in Hong Kong.”
“I today urge the Hong Kong SAR government to establish a robust, independent investigation into the violent scenes that we saw,” Hunt continued, referring to the crackdown on the 12th, and echoing a key demand of protesters in the wake of the demonstration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fjOOKuiRtk
“The outcome of that investigation will inform our assessment of future export licenses applications to the Hong Kong police, and we will not issue any further export licenses for crowd control equipment to Hong Kong unless we are satisfied that concerns raised on human rights and fundamental freedoms have been thoroughly addressed.”
The protest in question descended into violence and chaos as police used some 150 rounds of tear gas — along with rubber bullets, pepper spray, bean bag rounds, and batons — to forcibly clear a crowd of tens of thousands who had occupied an area near Legislative Council in an effort to block the controversial bill, which would allow renditions to mainland China.
Condemnation of police’s heavy-handed response was swift, with Amnesty International accusing authorities of taking the violent actions of a handful of protesters as pretext to use disproportionate force against a crowd of thousands of peaceful demonstrators. Amnesty has since issued a report in which it maintained it had identified 14 separate incidents of excessive force on the part of police.
Photos from the scene of the protests revealed that the tear gas used by Hong Kong authorities had been manufactured by the British firm Chemring.
[Updates] Hong Kong Police has shot down one student protestor in eyes, condition unknown. Tear gas and plastic bullets have been deployed. Officials has declared the protest as riot, possible forces such as water cannon may be deployed. #HongKongProtest #NoChinaExtradition pic.twitter.com/MiW9iknUxH
— まゆゆ大好き～ (@mayugooshi) June 12, 2019
The same firm had vowed to review its sales policy regarding Hong Kong after authorities used tear gas against peaceful protesters at the outset of what would become the Umbrella Movement in 2014, according to the Guardian.
A spokesman for Chemring told the Independent earlier this month that the company does have an export license with Hong Kong, but was operating within UK regulations and had no say over how its products were ultimately used by buyers.
