Hong Kong police said four students have been arrested on suspicion that they ‘advocated terrorism’ following a motion passed last month in memorial of a man who fatally stabbed a policeman before killing himself.
As police arrested the suspects on Wednesday, they said an officer was stabbed from behind on July 1 as he prevented protest gatherings on the anniversary of the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule in 1997.
The man then used the knife to stab himself in the chest and died later in the hospital. The 28-year-old cop sustained a punctured lung but survived what Secretary of State Chris Tang termed as a ‘lone wolf’ terrorist attack.
A few dozen members of the Hong Kong University student union submitted a motion shortly after the incident, which has since been withdrawn, to remember the man’s death and ‘appreciate his sacrifice.’ The union leaders resigned and expressed regret for the ‘inappropriate’ motion.
National security officers searched the union’s campus office and the institution broke relations with the organisation and barred around 30 students who signed the motion from entering its grounds. ‘The motion is very shocking,’ Senior Superintendent Steve Li told reporters.
‘It tried to rationalise and glorify terrorism,’ Li said, adding that it ‘encouraged people to attempt suicide’ and it did not align with ‘our moral standards.’
The four were between the ages of 18 and 20, according to Li and police will question the students who voted in favour of the proposal. The Hong Kong police do not reveal the identities of anyone under investigation.
Since protestors went to the streets in 2019 demanding greater democracy and accountability for what campaigners called police brutality, which officials have consistently denied, Hong Kong has become increasingly polarised.
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The coronavirus pandemic and a broad national security regulation enacted by Beijing last year put a stop to the demonstrations.
The government’s most vocal critics have been imprisoned or fled abroad after the legislation was enacted. Critics claim that the Act has curtailed the city’s broad range of rights and liberties, while proponents claim that it has brought stability back to the city.
Some individuals went to the scene of the stabbing to leave flowers after the July 1 incident, garnering censure from officials, notably territorial leader Carrie Lam.
At the time, Lam urged parents, teachers and others to watch teen’s behaviour and report those who breach the law to the police.
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