Hong Kong police 'more tolerant than those in US or Europe', says CY Leung

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has put forward a robust defence of the police's performance during the ongoing Occupy Central protests, saying they had shown "patience and tolerance" not always found in Western democratic countries.

His remarks in a television interview earlier this week chimed with critics of the Occupy movement, who regularly remind protesters they could face rougher treatment at the hands of authorities in the United States or Europe.

Examples of such treatment are seemingly in abundance - from the militarised police on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, last month after the shooting of black teenager to the death of Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper vendor who was struck and killed by a police officer in London while he was walking home during the 2009 G20 protests.

On Saturday, riot police and tear gas were deployed on the streets of Keene, a sleepy town in the US state of New Hampshire, after drunken college students descended on a nearby pumpkin festival. Dozens were injured when a mob overturned cars and threw projectiles.

Hong Kong's student demonstrators, on the other hand, have remained almost entirely peaceful throughout the course of their occupation. The images of Hong Kong police launching tear gas onto the streets of Admiralty on the evening of September 28 shocked many primarily because of the inoffensive nature of the student protesters.

That shock probably intensified after October 15 when TVB aired a video showing a group of plainclothes police dragging protester Ken Tsang away from the main crowds in Admiralty before kicking and hitting him.

Although that incident was beamed around the world painting an image of Hong Kong police for some, Law Yuk-kai, director of Human Rights Monitor, said the use of tear gas was "an unprecedented deviation of normal police practices".