Hong Kong Puts 8,000 Police on Streets for China’s National Day
- Total is more than for the same holiday during unrest in 2019
- Police outnumbered voters in financial hub’s recent election
Photographer: Li Zhihua/China News Service/Getty Images
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Hong Kong is putting more police on its streets during this year’s National Day celebrations than it did for the same holiday during historic unrest two years ago, evidence of the laser focus authorities are placing on eliminating any sign of dissent in the financial hub.
The city’s police force will deploy more than 8,000 officers Thursday and Friday, including counterterrorism experts, elite Special Tactical Squad “raptors” and plainclothes officers, local media outlet HK01 and others reported, citing people familiar with the matter. That’s more than the 6,000 on the streets during the holiday in 2019, when the sometimes violent protests shook the city.