Hong Kong: 4,000 officers deployed on anniversary of return to China

The Hong Kong police will decisively strengthen security measures in view of Monday 1st July, the day of the 27th anniversary of the city’s return to the control of mainland China, deploying over 4 thousand officers and raising the alert level against possible acts of sedition and sabotage. This was revealed by the local newspaper “South China Morning Post”, citing sources familiar with the dossier according to whom “anyone who attracts attention or wears suspicious clothing” could be stopped and interrogated. Such behavior could be punishable under the National Security Law and, therefore, lead to a sentence of up to seven years in prison.

Earlier this month, a 27-year-old man, Chu Kai-pong, became the first person to be charged under the National Security Law for wearing “subversive clothing” in public: he was stopped wearing a yellow mask and a T-shirt with slogans related to the 2019 protests. Furthermore, after the Ordinance for Safeguarding National Security came into force this year, Hong Kong authorities ordered officers to carefully inspect citizens’ clothing, according to the “South China Morning Post”. Anyone who “disrespects the national anthem” could also be arrested: this happened to two men and a woman on June 6. The three, according to the prosecution, had their backs to the pitch while the Chinese national anthem was being played before a soccer match against Iran in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

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