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 national security law (NSL)

Kahon Chan

Published: 7:00am, 28 Apr 2023

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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.

Edwina Lau Chi-wai, deputy police commissioner overseeing national security, also pushed back against suggestions that the force’s latest protest regulation measures had curbed free speech, arguing that “people with ulterior motives” were “distorting” ideas.

Lau, 57, was officially appointed as the force’s first national security chief on July 3, 2020, and her final day in office was scheduled for Friday. She took up the reins just three days after the Beijing-imposed national security law took effect in Hong Kong.

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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.

“While it’s not as chaotic as the protester violence back in 2019, we feel that there are still some hidden undercurrents,” Lau said, echoing a warning from Xia Baolong, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, during his fact-finding visit to the city.

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.

Retiring head of police national security unit Edwina Lau at a police event this month. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

She pointed to a “colourful” children’s book series released two years ago that depicted sheep defending their turf from invading wolves as an example of such soft confrontations. Five people behind the series were convicted of sedition last year.

“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.

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One of the mix-ups took place on February 28 when the protest song was played instead of the Chinese national anthem, “March of the Volunteers”, at the third division of the Ice Hockey World Championship in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Police interviewed Hong Kong’s ice hockey team leader after the incident.

“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.

Protesters at a demonstration last month in Tseung Kwan O wearing numbered lanyards. Photo: Elson Li

Lau also defended new police restrictions imposed on rally organisers.

The force has required organisers of recent public rallies in the city to differentiate participants from other residents. Protesters at a demonstration held last month in Tseung Kwan O, for example, had to wear numbered lanyards under the new measures.

“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.

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“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.

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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.

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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.