Monthly Archives: September 2019

British cops help Hong Kong cops

This video from 7/9/19 shows how the cops in Hong Kong are using British commanders to organise more or less ‘softly softly’ riot control against protesters. “We’re outside the Mong Kok police station…an officer was aiming a long rifle loaded with rubber bullets directly at protesters…No rubber bullets or teargas cannisters were fired, certainly not at our location…It was a far more organised, far better co-ordinated operation by the riot police. They flooded out from the Mong Kok police station here into the streets and very aggressively went after the protesters charging at them in large goups dispersing those protesters without apparently having to resort to the kind of force we’ve seen before – the 100s of teargas cannisters, the 100s of rounds of rubber bullets that have been fired in the past and I think what is very interesting is …that  there were British commanders involved tonight. Very clearly we heard them, we saw them speaking with British accents. It appears to me that they have been brought in to better organise the Hong Kong riot police – to bring their experience of riot control in UK cities…to the Hong Kong police to help them out. Now a source told one of our team from the UK consulate that they deny any new addition of police officers here but I’m not sure that that is true and it might well depend on what the definition of ‘new’ is”.

What’s more, those calling on Britain to rein in China haven’t heard about a delegation from Hong Kong being invited in August by the British government to attend a flagship arms fair in London despite a promise made by the former foreign secretary in June to halt exports of teargas to there. “Andrew Smith, a spokesman for the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, said: “The Hong Kong police are using UK-made arms against campaigners right now. It is a disgrace that they have been invited to buy even more.”

See also “Hong Kong’s Police Violence Is Stamped ‘Made in U.K.’ “

 

SamFanto was born, and then he lived a bit but never enough.

Bangladesh garment workers clash with cops

15/9/19:

Bangladesh, Narayanganj: garment workers clash with cops in road blockades against unpaid wages and illegal sackings  Ready-made garment (RMG) workers blocked multiple roads in Dhaka’s Mirpur area as well as the Narayanganj city yesterday, demanding payment of arrears and reopening of their factories…Workers of Zaara Jeans and Knitwear Limited blocked the road since the morning, demanding the payment of their arrears…After hours of demonstration, the protesters left the streets around 3:15pm after receiving assurance that their demands would be met…In Narayanganj, at least 25 people, including police personnel, were injured when a clash broke out between police and RMG workers. The clash broke out around 10 in the morning yesterday, on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Kanchpur area. Workers of Sinha-Opex Garments factory started protesting on the highway to press home their demands for payment of overdue wages, stopping illegal sacking of workers, and realizing other benefits. The clash erupted when law enforcement personnel tried to disperse the protesters from the highway. Police fired more than 50 tear gas shells and a few rounds of rubber bullets at the protesters at the time. The protesters, meanwhile,said police charged baton on them without any reason and fired tear gas shells at them, injuring at least 20 workers.” Video here

SamFanto was born, and then he lived a bit but never enough.

Beijing confronts Hong Kong’s tycoons to buy off the movement?


17/9/19:

More on Beijing’s growing focus on  confronting Hong Kong’s tycoons  “…after months of anti-government protests, China sees the tycoons, primarily property developers, as people responsible for the city’s grave socioeconomic injustices, which are sending young people into the streets. Last Friday, three state media outlets published commentaries singling out unaffordable housing as a “root cause” underlying the current protests…The state media involved were the Xinhua news agency, the People’s Daily and Global Times. Xinhua reiterated China’s position that “the top priority for Hong Kong is to stop the violence.” But it added: “We must pay close attention to the deep-seated contradictions and problems in Hong Kong in a timely manner, and take effective measures to solve them, completely eliminating the root causes of social unrest.” The People’s Daily commentary took a tough line, calling on real estate developers to show goodwill and “act in the public interest” instead of trying to squeeze “the last penny” from their land hoardings. The state media were responding favorably to a proposal last Wednesday by the pro-Beijing political party Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) in which the party called on the government use the Land Resumption Ordinance to expropriate land owned by developers to build affordable housing for young people. Developers are believed to own a huge land bank of 1,000 hectares of abandoned farmland in the New Territories.”

More here. Hong Kong’s developers are coming under mounting pressure to slash their prices and offload new projects as quickly as possible, according to analysts.The pressure is coming from two sources: a looming tax on unsold flats, and a series of Chinese state-media commentaries last week urging the Hong Kong government to boost housing by seizing land being hoarded by developers with “vested interests”.”

See also entry for 13/9/19 – Is Beijing proposing government nationalisation of HK land?

SamFanto was born, and then he lived a bit but never enough.