Students blast police for 'mainland terminology' used by officers during Chater Road sit-in
Police accused of being involved in 'political suppression' by using mainland-style term
A leading student group has criticised police officers for using a mainland-style phrase - which is regularly used as grounds for arresting activists on the mainland - when dealing with last week's Chater Road sit-in.
The students hit back as a second association representing disciplined services officers, the Customs and Excise Staff General Association, issued a statement yesterday in support of strict enforcement by police.
Last Sunday, the Junior Police Officers' Association used the phrase, often translated into English as "provoking quarrels and making trouble", to describe the sit-in protesters.
The criminal charge is regularly used against political dissidents and protesters on the mainland, but is non-existent in Hong Kong laws.
"By using this mainland terminology, police are turning themselves into state machinery of political suppression," Alex Chow Yong-kang, secretary general of the Federation of Students, said yesterday.
In Sunday's statement, the officers' association said frontline officers faced "vilification" and accusations of abusing their power when handling the Chater Road sit-in.
