Hong Kong still faces underlying threats from ‘soft confrontations’, warns outgoing head of police’s National Security Department
- Edwina Lau, deputy police commissioner overseeing national security, says anthem blunders classic examples of ‘soft confrontations’
- She also pushes back against suggestions that force’s new protest measures had curbed free speech
Hong Kong still faces underlying threats, with a series of anthem blunders a classic example of “soft confrontations” carried out by those who wish to attack both the country and city, the retiring head of police’s National Security Department has said.
In an interview with local media, including the Post, she called her appointment a “lifetime honour” and urged her successor to maintain a “fighting spirit” because the national security unit would continue to face stormy waters ahead.
Many “traitors” had continued to collude with “foreign forces” in attacking the nation and Hong Kong after leaving the city, while “soft confrontations” continued to stir up trouble, Lau said.
“The content was designed to plant provocative thoughts in the minds of children like seeds, leaving behind a potentially very long-term influence,” she said.
Lau also described recent high-profile national anthem blunders at international sports events where Hong Kong athletes had competed as further examples of provocation because they involved a song linked to the 2019 anti-government protests.
“Could there be some people deliberately doing this? I think this is also a very iconic example,” Lai said.
She did not specify which incidents and what culprits the police were examining in ongoing investigations, but said they would focus on the motives when evaluating whether an action constituted a soft confrontation.
Lau also defended new police restrictions imposed on rally organisers.
“I think [wearing lanyards] is extremely normal,” the outgoing chief said, adding that new rules were needed as Hong Kong had learned from the lessons of 2019 when less-regulated rallies led to mob violence.
“If we cherish the peaceful days we have now in Hong Kong, we should not think so single-mindedly that regulating marches is tantamount to regulating freedom of speech. Many people with ulterior motives are distorting this matter,” she said.
The force’s national security unit has arrested more than 250 people in nearly three years of operation, a figure Lau said was proof that the national security law only targeted “a small minority of people” to protect the majority.
The 400,000 tip-offs received by the force over national security threats also indicated their work had popular support in the city, she said.
She refused to outline the working relationship between police and the Committee for Safeguarding National Security as well as the Office for Safeguarding National Security, a Beijing body based in the city.
Lau called personal sanctions imposed on her by the United States “extremely unreasonable and despicable”. The sanctions have been in place since 2020 for her role in enforcing the national security law, but she insists they have only pushed her to work harder.
While she planned to travel to mainland China after retirement, she said nothing was “finalised” for the long term. However, she expressed her willingness to contribute to national security “if given the opportunity”.
Lau’s position was likely to be filled by Andrew Kan Kai-yan, a senior assistant police commissioner who is also director of the force’s National Security Department, an insider told the Post earlier.