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Hong Kong Police Detain 9 After Finding Materials for Explosives Hong Kong Police Detain 9 After Finding Materials for Explosives
(about 4 hours later)
HONG KONG — The Hong Kong police said on Monday that they had taken nine people into custody, including at least one member of a “local radical organization,” after finding components of explosives in a vacant television studio just days ahead of a contentious vote on how the city will elect its next leader. HONG KONG — The Hong Kong police said on Monday that they had taken nine people into custody, including at least one member of a “local radical organization,” after finding components of explosives in an abandoned television studio.
The police linked the arrests to the most strident local voices against the Chinese government. But they did not release crucial details, including the names of the suspects, the identity of the organization or the specific explosive components discovered. The announcement came two days before a contentious debate and vote on how the city will elect its next leader, prompting questions about whether the action was timed for political effect.
The chief superintendent of the police’s Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, Au Chin-chau, said at a news conference that the nine people, five men and four women, were all Hong Kong citizens and had been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to manufacture explosives. The police linked the arrests to the most strident local voices against the Chinese government. But they did not name the suspects who were arrested or the radical organization, nor did they identify the specific explosive components that were found.
He said that two of the suspects were arrested Sunday night in Sai Kung, a suburban area in the New Territories of Hong Kong, where they were “planning to test” the explosiveness of some chemical ingredients, which he did not identify. In a subsequent home search, the police seized “the ingredients of the cursors of TATP, a form of high explosive,” he said, adding that a small amount of it could destroy a car. Alan Leong, leader of the Civic Party, which favors greater democracy in Hong Kong, said the police announcement “really leaves many unanswered questions.” He said that people should be wary of official attempts to tarnish democracy supporters. “We should be guarded, especially when such an announcement came at such a time, which is highly sensitive.”
“Someone claims to be the member of a local radical organization,” Superintendent Au said, referring to one of the suspects. At the police news conference, Au Chin-chau, the chief superintendent of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, said that the nine people, five men and four women, were all Hong Kong citizens, and that they had been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to manufacture explosives.
Ng Wai-hon, a superintendent, said the police had seized more than 22 pounds of chemicals related to explosives from the former television studio. The studio, which has been abandoned for several years, is covered by graffiti and frequented by paintball enthusiasts. Superintendent Au said that two of the suspects were arrested Sunday night in Sai Kung, a suburban area, where they were “planning to test” the explosiveness of some chemicals that he did not identify. Later, in a home search, the police seized “the ingredients of the precursors of TATP, a form of high explosive,” he said.
The police also confiscated about half a gallon of a liquid confirmed to be a major component of TATP, a highly unstable explosive, from the home of one suspect, Superintendent Ng said. Ng Wai-hon, another superintendent, said the police had seized more than 22 pounds of chemicals related to explosives at the former television studio. The studio, abandoned years ago, is covered by graffiti and frequented by paintball enthusiasts.
The police declined to name the radical group that was mentioned or whether the suspects were believed to have political motives, but they had found maps of Admiralty, the location of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council and the government headquarters, as well as the nearby Wan Chai area, a commercial district home to Police Headquarters. The police also confiscated about half a gallon of a liquid used to make TATP from the home of one suspect, Superintendent Ng said.
The police declined to say whether the suspects were thought to have political motives, but they said they found maps of Admiralty and Wan Chai, the districts where the Hong Kong municipal government and the police have their headquarters.
There is a possibility that “this group of people might want to do something in that particular location,” Superintendent Au said.There is a possibility that “this group of people might want to do something in that particular location,” Superintendent Au said.
Police searches of suspects’ homes found computers and mobile devices storing sketches of an explosive device and the formula for making smoke grenades, Superintendent Au said. The police also found several air rifles that would be inspected for legality, he said. He said sketches of explosive devices were found on computers and mobile devices at the suspects’ homes, along with a formula for making smoke grenades. The police displayed several air rifles, Guy Fawkes masks and fliers advocating “localism” that they said they found in the home searches.
At a news conference on Monday, police displayed the air rifles, Guy Fawkes masks and fliers printed with slogans advocating “localism” that were found in the home searches. In Hong Kong, localism refers to calls for a free election of the city’s leader and to rejection of the growing influence of mainland China here. Some members of pro-localism groups have staged protests in which they confront shoppers from the mainland.
Groups championing the localism cause generally call for a free election of the city’s leader and reject the growing influence of mainland China in the city. Some of their members have confronted mainland Chinese shoppers in earlier protests. Demonstrations opposing a plan backed by the national government in Beijing to change the way Hong Kong’s leader will be selected are expected outside the city’s legislature this week. Voters are scheduled to choose the chief executive directly for the first time in 2017, but Beijing handed down a ruling last August saying that all candidates must be approved by a committee dominated by Beijing loyalists. A bill to write that ruling into law in Hong Kong is scheduled to be presented to lawmakers on Wednesday.
Alan Leong, leader of the more mainstream pro-democracy Civic Party, said that he found the police’s announcement “peculiar.” Pro-democracy members of the legislature have demanded wider public participation in the nominating process, and have promised to block the bill. If they succeed, the chief executive would continue to be chosen by a committee of 1,200 people, rather than by voters directly.
“It did not identify any particular person, or persons, that had anything to do with the making of the alleged explosives,” he said. “And it also left blank the motive of this group.” If the bill passes, though, it may incite demonstrations and unrest in the streets, as the original ruling did last year, political analysts say. To prepare for possible trouble, the legislature has already put up metal fences around entrances to its building, and the police have warned protesters not to take “any violent or aggressive action.”
“It really leaves many unanswered questions,” he said, adding that people should be wary of attempts to tarnish democracy supporters. “We should be guarded especially when such an announcement came at such a time, which is highly sensitive.” Carrie Lam, the No. 2 official in the municipal government, expressed worry on Sunday about potential violence, and urged protesters to remain peaceful.
The arrests occurred at the beginning of a week of scheduled demonstrations outside the city’s legislature against a Beijing-backed plan to change the method of selecting Hong Kong’s top leader in 2017. Under a ruling handed down by the Chinese government last August, candidates in the election — the first direct balloting for the city’s chief executive — must first be vetted by a committee dominated by Beijing loyalists. “We’ve seen radicals trying to mobilize people online to carry out more violent behaviors,” she told reporters after appearing on a radio program. “I appeal to those who want to join the rallies outside the Legislative Council building to steer clear of those people.”
A bill that would make the ruling into law in Hong Kong is scheduled to be presented to the local legislature on Wednesday, with a vote expected within days. Still, pro-democracy lawmakers said they thought there was little likelihood of premeditated violence this week.
Demanding wider public participation in the nominating process, pro-democracy members of the legislature have promised to block the proposal. That would continue the existing system, under which a committee of 1,200 people votes for the chief executive. “I think this is a rather isolated incident,” Albert Ho, a legislator, said of the arrests announced by the police on Monday. “I have not heard of a case of intended violence for political purposes since the ’67 riots in Hong Kong, when local communists confronted police and the colonial administration.”
Political analysts have said that unrest may follow if the government manages to muster enough votes to pass the bill, which would require at least four of the 27 pro-democracy legislators to go back on their promises. Steve Vickers, the chief executive of SVA, a political and corporate risk consultancy in Hong Kong, and a former chief of police intelligence under British rule, said the explosives the suspects were said to be trying to make would be difficult to handle.
In light of possible confrontations, the legislature has put up metal fences around entrances to its building, and the police have warned protesters not to take “any violent or aggressive action.” “TATP is not easily available in a finished state, but the Internet and YouTube make it easy to come up with the ingredients,” Mr. Vickers said. Unless they are experts, he said, people who try to make and use it “probably present a greater threat to themselves than the public.”
On Sunday, Carrie Lam, the No. 2 official of the Hong Kong government, expressed worries about potential violence during the demonstrations this week and urged moderate protesters to remain peaceful.
“We’ve seen radicals trying to mobilize people online to carry out more violent behaviors,” she told reporters after a radio program. “I appeal to those who want to join the rallies outside the Legislative Council building to steer clear of those people.”
Pro-democracy lawmakers played down the likelihood of any violence during the protests and voting this week.
“I think this is a rather isolated incident,” said Albert Ho, a legislator. “I have not heard of a case of intended violence for political purposes since the ’67 riots in Hong Kong, when local communists confronted police and the colonial administration.”
Steve Vickers, the chief executive of SVA, a political and corporate risk consultancy in Hong Kong, and a former head of the Royal Hong Kong Police Criminal Intelligence Bureau, said the explosive the suspects were accused of conspiring to manufacture would be difficult to handle.
“TATP is not easily available in a finished state, but the Internet and YouTube make it easy to come up with the ingredients,” Mr. Vickers said. Unless they are experts, he said, the people accused of possessing the material “probably present a greater threat to themselves than the public if they try and transport this material.”