 CP Eddie Hui and PTU Commandant Yam Tat-wing relax at cocktail party to celebrate a job well done by the Force |
"Actions speak louder than words. Let the press and the public compare what we said about demonstrating prior to the event - and just how it turned out during the event. We spoke the truth - there was no crackdown after midnight June 30. And protesters from all sectors spoke out" |
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AT about 6 am on July 1, six hours after the handover of Hong Kong to China, the Police Officers' Club in Causeway Bay looked more like a campsite than a gentlemen's sports club. Dozens of Police Tactical Unit members, who had earlier been engaged in managing crowds and manning the command posts that oversaw the near flawless multi-faceted police operation for the farewell and handover ceremonies, were rolled up in sleeping bags getting three whole hours of hard-earned shut-eye. "We didn't have time to celebrate the handover. We had to be back at our posts at 8 am that same morning," recalls PTU Commandant Peter Yam Tat-wing. "We did, however, have a wonderful breakfast at the Police Officer's Club." In all, over 2,000 Hong Kong Police officers, pulled from a variety of formations, were deployed to handle the pivotal episode in the history of Hong Kong. The operation was immense and involved men and women on the ground, in the sea and air from the Planning and Implementation team, Special Duties Unit, the VIP Protection Unit, Marine Police, Traffic police, Auxies and the PTU - maintaining crowd control, traffic and impregnable security at the handover venues. Protecting world leaders like Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Prince Charles and US Secretary of State Madeleine Al bright or their representatives who came to witness the handover of sovereignty was of primary importance. Equally significant, though, and with thousands of international television and press media covering the event, was the management of protest groups - always an unknown factor, whose actions have the potential of getting out of control. Adding to the challenge was much speculation prior to the event that after China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong freedom of expression would be curtailed. The whole world was watching. "Actions speak louder than words," says Dick Lee Ming-kwai, ACP (Special Duties), whose Planning and Implementation Team was in charge of security during the transitional period. "Let the press and the public compare what we said about demonstrating prior to the event - and just how it turned out during the event. We spoke the truth - there was no crackdown after midnight June 30. And protesters from all sectors spoke out. "I thank the demonstrators who were for the most part peaceful, orderly and co-operative. Most of all I thank the officers from the different formations involved. No protesters were injured, arrested or silenced largely due to excellent police crowd management, patience, effort and co-ordination. During the handover period we all shared a common purpose - to show the world that Hong Kong will re main safe and stable." And there was certainly much potential for instability. On June 30 and well into the first of July some ten groups of demonstrators rallied in Central Hong Kong or gathered in designated demonstration zones outside of the handover venue including those against the provisional legislature, the Tiananmen crackdown, and the forced abortion policy in the mainland and the Communist Party. There were also people with complaints against police, complaints against the Hong Kong and British governments, and some calling for the immediate right of abode for illegal immigrant children born to Hong Kong parents. Another group demanded money they had invested and lost in apartments in China, while still another American-based group protested against mainland authorities infringing on human rights. More than 3,000 people took to the streets in Central around midnight to mark reunification with calls for democracy and the preservation of freedoms. The April 5th Action Group, carrying a model tank to remind people of Tiananmen Square, marched from Wan Chai MTR station to the Convention and Exhibition Centre and posed a major challenge to police officers an hour before the midnight handover ceremony. Deputy District Commander, Wan Chai District, SSP Bill Suen Kwai-leung: "During and after the first fireworks display on June 30, we had worked very hard and for many hours managing traffic and the large crowds who had come to celebrate, when about 15 protesters of the April 5th Action Group attempted to break through our police cordon and enter the restricted area in the Convention and Exhibition Centre. | |
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Their actions attracted the attention
of about 700 journalists and 2,500 onlookers, who rushed
along with them every time they broke out of the
demonstration area. This presented an enormous challenge
to our crowd management tactics."
Keeping in mind that these frontline police officers had to maintain the delicate balance between public safety and order with freedom of expression for the demonstrators, their ability to control the disturbances with no injuries to any of the police officers, onlookers, nor the protesters was a testament to the effort and crowd management abilities of the police formations involved. "Special thanks must be given to the officers of the PTU Golf Company, whose efforts and professionalism were commendable - especially considering the long hours of crowd management before, during and after the fireworks display they had just put in," added Deputy District Commander Suen. "I'm really proud of my officers," said PTU Commandant Peter Yam Tat-wing, who was in charge of the designated demonstration sites. "We did our best to facilitate the demonstrators by marshalling them to the various demonstration zones where according to their wishes they could be seen by the IPPs and VIPs at the handover ceremony. "The most difficult aspect of the night, apart from ushering the demonstrators, was the control of the media because they were all over the place. My concern was for their safety because they were running where traffic was still ongoing. At the same time, our concern was for the April 5th people, who by attempting to go through our cordon spilled out into the roads causing obstructions and also endangering themselves. Our marshalling helped get them back to where they were supposed to be. "All officers worked very hard and they exercised the highest degree of self-restraint on the night trying to entertain as much as we could the public as well as the demonstrators and the media. One must also not lose sight of the excellent support given by those officers manning the various command posts as well as the catering section - who all made the operation a smooth and successful one. Like all officers from the different formations working the transitional period, the PTU was out there on the ground and in the relentlessly pouring rain doing their duty to make sure that the handover and ensuing celebrations went on without incident. |
 ACP Dick Lee and PTU staff take time out from their duties at Wan Chai Command Post to change Police insignia at midnight June 30 |
