Other Departments Should Support Police Work: CE

The Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, said on Tuesday that she has ordered the various government departments to assist the work of the police in curbing violence and restoring calm in Hong Kong.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lam said she will continue to “resolutely” support the work of the force, saying they had worked extremely long hours and had been under tremendous pressure since the anti-extradition protests broke out over four months ago.

On top of that, she added, that officers and their families also had to face other problems such as doxxing.

Lam defended the Department of Justice and the police commissioner's successful move to apply for an injunction to ban people from doxxing officers and their families, rejecting claims that the government had been selective in offering privacy protections.

“There is no dispute that the main target of doxxing is the police. I gather that over 2,000 policemen and maybe their families have been put to that sort of intimidation. So for the Secretary for Justice and the Commissioner of Police to take that route of applying for an interim injunction, is understandable because we don’t have the necessary effective legislation to tackle that issue”, she said.

The SAR leader added she’s ordered other government departments to provide the police with support, saying all of them have a role to play in restoring normality in Hong Kong. The Highways Department, for example, will be tasked with helping officers clear roadblocks put up by demonstrators, while staff from the Environmental and Hygiene Department will be responsible with cleaning up the so-called Lennon Walls.

Lam also called on society to stop backing the “rioters”, saying they have simply been looking for excuses to engage in violent activities. She said their violence must be brought to a stop for the city to take a breather, as the government introduces a series of measures to rescue the local economy.

The embattled leader dismissed as "speculative" a Financial Times report saying Beijing is making a plan to replace her by March next year. She stressed the central government remains confident in her leadership.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman has already clarified that that was a very malicious and may be politically driven speculation or rumour," she said.

"As far as I am concerned, from the beginning of this social unrest till now, the central government has been very supportive and remains confident that I myself, my political team, and the HKSAR government, particularly the police, will be able to handle the situation and end violence and return Hong Kong to normal as soon as possible”, Lam said.