'HK Protesters Weren't Drugged, Just Acted Like It'

Police Commissioner Chris Tang on Tuesday dismissed a pro-establishment lawmaker's suggestion that anti-government protesters were drugged by criminals to get them to take part in the social unrest of 2019, but agreed that some of them acted like they were high on something.

Tang made the comment during an online Legco meeting where he briefed legislators on the territory's crime situation, hailing the national security law for “restoring order”.

He said around 10,200 people have so far been arrested in connection with the city's social unrest and about a quarter have been charged.

Around 940 people have gone through the prosecution process and 190 of them were given prison terms, he said.

Tang said 97 people have been arrested to date on suspicion of violating the national security law, with eight of them charged with an offence.

He said thanks to the police, deterrent sentences handed down by the courts, and the national security legislation, Hong Kong's law and order has improved.

"For those who are suspected to have violated the national security law, we have staunchly arrested them. The law and order situation has been restored. However, we would be aware and on guard against lone-wolf attacks,” he said, without elaborating.

New People's Party lawmaker Eunice Yung asked the police chief if there is any connection between protest-related cases and drug offences, saying she's worried that criminals used drugs to lure young people into joining the protests.

The commissioner said there was no evidence to back up such a claim, but offered this observation: "The kind of excitement of people charging at police cordons, hurling petrol bombs, they are kind of similar to what you see with people on drugs. Once they calm down, they'd behave just like a normal person."

Overall, there were more than 63,000 crime reports last year, an increase of almost seven percent from 2019.

A sharp rise in deception cases offset a fall in alleged protest-related offences such as unlawful assembly.

Police said there were about 15,000 deception cases in 2020, 90 percent more than the previous year. They were mostly related to online shopping, telephone deceptions and romance scams, with a loss of HK$780 million reported.