Hong Kong's steady descent into a police state

[ByeByeEngland]

Yet you seem to continually avoid the even SIMPLER point... No oversight of HK police. HK police satisfaction survey in late December was about 30%. Who is wearing blinkers? the 70% or the 30%? UK is about twice as much. Who is police meant to serve and protect? The public or the government?

That the HK police have said poor leadership isn’t the question. The world point is that wrongful arrest for taking photographs is definitely not unique to HK, therefore nothing to do with a descent into a police state.

I happen to agree with the viewpoint that this is exactly where we are heading

[mucaari]

Who is police meant to serve and protect? The public or the government?

Stupid question, the CCP obviously!

[Aramis]

Wow if you think that stopping and searching without a valid reason is not part of the descent into a police state, you would make a great spokesman for the HKPF. You can argue that every single unsavory act that police officers do happen in democratic countries. Ask any black people in the US and they will tell you long lists of police abuses. It's the combination of acts like unlawful stop and search combined with the lack of oversight that creates an atmosphere of repression. This is becoming a place where no bystander should do anything that might displease an officer because there's no way to tell how they will react and you will have no recourse regardless of the action. It's not one particular action that creates a police state, it's the climate created by ALL the unsavory actions done by the HKPF with never an apology or a consequence.

[Aramis]

Stupid question, the CCP obviously!

Yep and that is the main difference with a police state and a democracy. It doesn't always work but here they've stopped even pretending

[mucaari]

Yep and that is the main difference with a police state and a democracy. It doesn't always work but here they've stopped even pretending

It's quite shameful how last weeks power-grab is almost nowhere to be seen in international media.

[Gatts]

https://twitter.com/BeWaterHKG/statu...436951552?s=19

Absolutely disgusting and insane.

[TheBrit]

You actually think you can openly take pictures of police forces in the UK and the US without being at least questioned.

You can certaintly do so in the UK. The US is fucked up, I wouldn't use that as the basis for any sort of police force anyone wants to emulate.

[TheBrit]

Form the Metropolitian Police website.. looks like ByeByeEngland is talking out of his arse as usual

https://www.met.police.uk/advice/adv...graphy-advice/

Freedom to photograph and film
Members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel.

[Aramis]

Form the Metropolitian Police website.. looks like ByeByeEngland is talking out of his arse as usual

While I disagree with the relevance of what UK/US or any police force does in these circumstances, he didn't say that it wasn't allowed. He pointed out that they can ask questions and stop and search which is true if they suspect terrorism. However the policy clearly states that it's not meant to be done with the purpose of intimidation which is exactly what the HKPF is doing and as I said before, there is oversight in democratic countries and there is none in HK. There are avenues to make complaints. That's the difference in a police state which he doesn't seem to be able or willing to understand.

From the Met police site:
Officers have the power to stop and search a person who they reasonably suspect to be a terrorist. The purpose of the stop and search is to discover whether that person has in their possession anything which may constitute evidence that they are a terrorist.

There is nothing preventing officers asking questions of an individual who appears to be taking photographs of someone who is or has been a member of Her Majesty’s Forces (HMF), Intelligence Services or a constable so long as this is being done for a lawful purpose and is not being done in a way that prevents, dissuades or inhibits the individual from doing something which is not unlawful.

[TheBrit]

While I disagree with the relevance of what UK/US or any police force does in these circumstances, he didn't say that it wasn't allowed. He pointed out that they can ask questions and stop and search which is true if they suspect terrorism. However the policy clearly states that it's not meant to be done with the purpose of intimidation which is exactly what the HKPF is doing and as I said before, there is oversight in democratic countries and there is none in HK. There are avenues to make complaints. That's the difference in a police state which he doesn't seem to be able or willing to understand.

From the Met police site:
Officers have the power to stop and search a person who they reasonably suspect to be a terrorist. The purpose of the stop and search is to discover whether that person has in their possession anything which may constitute evidence that they are a terrorist.

There is nothing preventing officers asking questions of an individual who appears to be taking photographs of someone who is or has been a member of Her Majesty’s Forces (HMF), Intelligence Services or a constable so long as this is being done for a lawful purpose and is not being done in a way that prevents, dissuades or inhibits the individual from doing something which is not unlawful.

Yes, so @ByeByeEngland was talking out of his arse. Thanks for the longwinded pontification confirming it.