Andy Tsang Given Top Role At China Anti-drugs Body

Former police chief Andy Tsang said on Tuesday that his new appointment as a vice-commissioner of the mainland’s anti-drugs body will be a big mission for him, but he's encouraged to see how Beijing grooms and chooses the best talent available across the whole country, including Hong Kong.

Tsang, 60, told RTHK that he will be drawing on his past experience as the SAR's police chief for his new role at the National Narcotics Control Commission.

He said the country's anti-narcotics work is already generally effective, being as only four million of the 1.4 billion population take drugs.

Tsang received praise on Monday during a meeting with deputy minister of public security, Wang Xiaohang, who said the former police chief had made “exceptional contributions” in combating crime and maintaining law and order in Hong Kong.

Nicknamed the “Bald Eagle” for his hawkish style, Tsang is known to have taken a hardline approach during the 2014 pro-democracy Occupy protests.

During his term as police commissioner between 2011 to 2015, demonstrations often turned into confrontations with officers that ended in mass arrests and showers of pepper spray.

In 2018, Tsang was also made a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.