Amid Escalating Tension in Hong Kong, Wong Hei Warns Demonstrators to Disperse
Amid escalating tension and political unrest in Hong Kong, demonstrators organized a general strike on August 5 and put the city to a halt. With increasing frustration and dissent, some demonstrators gathered around police stations and threw items at the police. As a member of the police forces before starting his entertainment career, former TVB actor Wong Hei (王喜) spoke up and urged demonstrator to disperse.
Clashes with Police Intensified
Across the city, demonstrators took to the street and set up road blocks. As the demonstrators marched, many shouted “mobster”. As some demonstrators gathered around police stations, the demonstrators began pelting the riot police with eggs and bricks. The police responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets while demonstrators largely remained on the scene.
Wong Hei’s Appeal to Public
As a former member of the police force, Wong Hei’s experience compelled him to make an appeal to the public. While known for his role in Burning Heart <烈火雄心>, Wong Hei joined the police forces in 1989 and was commended for his heroism. On one occasion, Wong Hei did not hesitate to rush into a burning building to save his colleagues from the fire.
Posting on his social media page, Wong Hei warned against throwing items at the police as they would use all methods at protecting the police station, including shooting. His full statement is as follows:
“I am Wong Hei. I am appealing to the public. Everyone who is gathered around the police station must disperse now. Stop throwing items at police because these actions could be interpreted by the commander as an attack on the police station.
When the police station is under attack, every police officer will react and will use all methods, by all means, to protect the police station. This obviously includes shooting with guns. Therefore if you are enclosing the police station and throwing items at it, you will not get what you want. In fact you will get what you don’t want, which are injuries.
I appeal to you again, anyone in the vicinity of a police station, leave immediately. Don’t throw items at the police station. Leave now.”
Source: hket
This article is written by Sammi for JayneStars.com.
did it help ease any tension? he posted that a few days ago assuming it was during the escalation.
@mike Nope…basically, nothing anybody says is going to help now, which is why most celebrities are keeping their mouths shut, especially since quite a few of them have been pulled into the extradition bill crisis the past 2 months and have seen the collateral damage resulting from it (some innocently, some not so innocently – the latest “innocent” one is Ali Lee). TVB got pulled in last month (which, btw, I’m surprised Jaynestars didn’t report anything on it) and they’ve not only lost advertisers, they’ve also had to cancel a lot of events and filmings (though honestly I don’t have much sympathy for them, since they brought it on themselves pretty much, but that’s another story).
It’s gotten to the point where there are protests nearly every day now and most of HK looks like a warzone (oh and ordinary Hong Kongers don’t dare to wear black shirts or white shirts in public anymore). It’s sad, but from the latest reports, it looks like the only way stability will be restored is if the incompetent HK government acquiesces to at least the main 2 (out of 5) of the protestors’ demands (specifically to withdraw the bill and also form an independent council to investigate the excessive use of force by police) or Mainland government sends in the PLA. With that said, both options don’t seem likely, so the protests and unrest will probably continue on for who knows how long….
@llwy12 I saw Ali Lee’s post on Instagram about this, how did she even get dragged into this? (Just curious lol.)
@tvbrama She did the same thing Pakho Chau did — they both wrote a simple sentence telling HK to add oil and encouraging Hong Kongers to register to vote…harmless statement technically, but sensitive Mainland netizens consider that as supporting HK universal suffrage, which in turn, means supporting HK independence. So all the Mainland internet trolls started harassing her, calling her a traitor and a disgrace to Chinese. Pakho Chau got the same treatment from said trolls, though with the “added service” of encouraging other Mainlanders to boycott his music and not buy his albums….lucky for Pakho though, his HK fans and their friends who saw what was happening banded together for a “buy up all his albums” campaign to counter the Mainland trolls. Maybe Ali’s fans in HK should do something similar (band together to support her).
@llwy12 I see, thanks for the explanation! Ah, the internet.. so sensitive, overreaction much lol? I did see on Instagram a lot of Ali fans posting messages supporting her! I didn’t even realize Pakho was being harassed too, but like you said he had lots of friends and fans supporting him too.
This is what you call fighting for your rights and freedom??!!! What the hell are these young ppl doing other then attacking officeers they cry that they were shot with rubber bullets and pepper spray thats how u disperse a crowd when it gets outta control with violence i see nothing wrong with that its a normal thing in US!
THe case in Yuen long is truly upsetting and upon seeing the police station shutting there doors on innocent ppl asking for help im not siding with either side just hope that peace will return over in HK asap!!!
@sherla1019 True….protestors are wrong for throwing things at the police station and defacing the facilities, and absolutely, the escalating violence (from both sides) needs to be condemned without a doubt….however, at the same time, it’s not hard to understand why the protestors are so angry, as the police and the government really haven’t been helping themselves with the way they’ve handled things thus far. Most Hong Kongers have no problems with the protestors making their voices heard and with police firing tear gas to disperse the crowds, as that’s pretty much expected – the anger is mostly with what happened in Yuen Long where innocent civilians were pulled into the fray and the blatant police/government/triad collusion that occurred surrounding that entire incident. Basically, the HK government had a chance to prevent all of this from happening back in June, but they refused to do anything at that time and now it’s too late, as the damage has already been done and in many cases, the rift is too great to mend…
@llwy12
“The anger is mostly with what happened in Yuen Long where innocent civilians were pulled into the fray and the blatant police/government/triad collusion that occurred surrounding that entire incident. ”
Any facts that support that there was collusion? I’m not saying that you’re wrong, but so far I’ve seen more fiction than fact.
@anon There isn’t any direct factual evidence otherwise the general public would’ve been able to nail the police and government on that and there would be no need for all this continued unrest….so at the end of the day, it’s still a “conspiracy theory” at best. With that said though, there has been a lot of circumstantial stuff that has come out which many people interpret as pointing in the direction of collusion that neither the police nor the government has been able to provide sufficient explanation for – a few examples: that viral video of pro-Beijing politician Junius Ho shaking hands and acting all chummy chummy with the men in white near the location of where the incident took place and when the government was asked to investigate his relationship with those men, they refused….also, there was the significant delay in police response at the time of the attack (the explanation was that all police were busy handling other cases in the area), the police station that was right near the site shuttering its doors (even though there were officers inside) and ignoring the injured civilians outside who were banging on the gates screaming for help, police officers refusing to arrest or even detain any of the white shirt guys they saw lingering near the MTR station, citing that there was no evidence those guys were involved in the attack even though the guys had bloodied bamboo rods and metal pipes in their hands (most of this was caught on video, yet police still say there was no evidence), etc. Of course, it can be argued that all of this is open to interpretation and that’s very true…but that’s exactly why so many Hong Kongers from all walks of life have been pushing for an independent council to investigate not just police action but also the protests as a whole so that they can separate fact from fiction. The irony is that some of the lower ranking cops who’ve been at the frontlines dispersing protestors also want an independent investigation, as they believe it will exonerate them, but their bosses in the upper ranks as well as their ultimate boss Carrie Lam and her Cabinet all feel it’s unnecessary….
@llwy12 🙁 that sounds so bad, I hope HK get their independent councils, better yet out of Chinese government’s hands but that won’t happen 🙁 the future is dark for Hk 🙁
These rioters are fortunate that they are rioting in HK, and not in the West. If this happened in Europe or America. guns would’ve been drawn and there would’ve been many more injuries, most importantly – deaths. The military would be deployed. The West would not put up with this nonsense if the same democracy and freedom that these people are fighting for happened in their home soil. The irony!
I commend the HK government and China for being so tolerant and patient with these people because such would be intolerable in the West.
@anon Um, nope, that’s not really how it works here..I’m curious if you actually live or have lived in the U.S…. I grew up in the U.S., lived here all my life, have seen many protests here and no, cops don’t just come in and start shooting people left and right. That’s a misconception predicated by the prevalence of gun ownership and “gun culture” over here. Majority of the protests here are actually peaceful— even the ones that aren’t peaceful, where protestors block roadways and freeways, the cops here may not necessarily do anything…even with the infamous L.A. Riots (which happened basically in my backyard since I grew up in Los Angeles), with the Rodney King beating, that was a handful of cops in a pretty much isolated incident…as a whole, the rioters did more damage to the city (with the looting and the fires and also beating up innocent civilians) than the cops did. Yes, there is definitely police brutality here, more than there should be in fact, but those are usually individual occurrences…police brutality at protests is actually rare unless it’s one that gets really out of hand.
And no, the U.S. doesn’t deploy the military to disperse local protests at will like that…where’d you get that from? The military here rarely gets involved in local affairs/disputes because they aren’t allowed to (there are laws that prevent the military from being deployed to enforce domestic matters/regulations) — the only times they are allowed to respond is if the President declares a national emergency and specifically calls in the troops to perform a specific task, (such as providing aid after a disaster or helping with security during a major event), but even then, there are rules they have to abide by…
And honestly, trying to compare police response here in the U.S. to HK isn’t even a valid one…cops in the U.S. have to be tougher due to the fact that the average citizen has the right to bear arms under the Constitution (the official statistic is 40% of Americans either own guns or live in a household that has a gun, but the actual number is higher than that if we factor in all the people who own guns illegally)…when doing an ordinary house call for a domestic dispute could result in someone pulling a gun on you, its not surprising that cops here have to constantly take the tough route…also, more guns naturally means there will be more deaths and injuries. HK doesn’t have an overwhelming “gun culture” like the U.S. Majority of the people participating in the protests are unarmed…it’s only the small minority of radicals and extremists at the front lines of the protests who have been brandishing weapons— the use of force against those people are justified of course, but how about the others who aren’t armed? And also the journalists who are merely trying to do their jobs, yet they also get attacked (by both cops and protestors).
@llwy12 First of all, why are the press always standing right in front of these so called self-proclaimed peaceful protesters? They should know that once the protesters cross the line, the police will use force to suppress the riots. The press are idiotic to be in front In a chaotic situation, it is impossible for the police to distinguish who is the protester or the press. Why should these so called reporters stand right in front of the police? Why can’t they stand to the sides like those in other countries? Unless they want to be the buffer between the police and the rioters?
These “protesting” journalists are actually the accomplices of the rioters. In many riots, they hold their camera one or two feet in front of the first line of policemen who intend to march towards the rioters. It is obvious that these journalists intend to block the view and advancement of the policemen so as to assist the rioters. For those journalists who are not in their camp, they are being persecuted by their yellow counterpart. An example is that TVB news broadcast the rioters’ violence without any cutting. This infuriated the yellow journalists and they partner with yellow camp people to extract advertisements from TVB, in a bid to punish them for reporting the violence of the rioters. Previously, the yellow camp also has scheduled to protest/barricade at TVB headquarters on 21/7 to intimidate the latter on their news reporting in future. The mob also vandalized and wrecked a TVB van.
@llwy12
Did you ever read about Reagan sending in tanks to quell demonstrations by UC Berkeley protesters in the late 60s? The well-armed troops fired and killed a guy who was just watching the tear-gassed crowds from a roof. Four students were shot and killed by the National Guard at Kent State in in 1970. During a 2011 occupy movement at UC Davis, cops pepper-sprayed a group in the face as they sat on the ground. Not to mention the many incidents of un-armed minority males shot in the back with a fusillade of police firepower.
@anon lol… you are very funny. Atm, Australians are doing protest of their own against the government, and so far, all we get is people throwing in jail… not even tear gas are being used, good job at demonstrating your knowledge of the West *golfclap
@anon @llwy12 Shame on the pan-dems and people for defending these criminals! Those hooligans aren’t above the law! The rioters cannot force their opinions on those who support the bill by rioting and holding the city and its inhabitants hostage. This is not democracy, this is mob rule! They want violence in HK. If HK police were like American police, these gangsters would have been road kill. Those protesters are hooligans, how can you storm the legislature building, vandalize the place and wave a foreign flag. Buncha traitors. Those rioters are waving British colonial flags, ignoring that the British KILLED protesters against the British rule, whereas the current police is very patient. Destroying the public property and the government buildings, why don’t they try to do that in the US and western countries and see what gonna happen to them. Serve them right, if this happens in anywhere else in the West, police will have open fire already.
It is clear from the tactics used by the rioters, they are well organized, equipped, planned and likely rehearsed. Their approaches are much more assertive solely intended to cause mayhem and chaos, very different from the “Occupy” bunch. Rioters likely got professional helps and advices. HK Police must find out who were financially supporting the riot organizers. The place to start looking are those tycoons who have most to lose if the extradition law passes. Sincerely hope HK government would stand the ground and get the extradition law passes.
@sam01
Well said! To find the perpetrators, I would begin to look at history and recognize which country (or countries) have a history of overthrowing foreign governments and have the most to benefit from all this chaos in HK and China right now. You don’t need to be Einstein to figure all this out.
The anti-extradition bill protests has unfortunately been hijacked by localists and other extremists. At this point, they’ve created a scenario where Carrie Lam can’t step down, because the CCP wouldn’t allow her to even if she wanted. Especially after the Liason office was attacked and especially after the Chinese flag was thrown into the harbor.
This was due to the original protests not really having a strong leadership to keep their message and demands focused and to denounce violence. Instead, now that the thugs have taken over the movement, Carrie Lam can’t bow down to any demands without looking like she is caving in to the violence and extremists.
They have even attacked the police living quarters while their families were at home.
@terrycrews19
“Liason office was attacked”
“They have even attacked the police living quarters while their families were at home.”
Agreed, If this happened in the US, as you know, the land of the ‘free’ and the defender of ‘human rights’ and ‘democracy’, these group of people would be labelled as a terrorist group if they ever attacked a government building. They would be arrested and put behind bars. The cops will NOT hesitate to be trigger happy and pull off a few dozen magazines of bullets even if you’re down on the ground. US cops and politicians won’t give a damn.
But because this is in HK, and America has an invested interest to destabilize China, both militarily and economically, these rioters are labelled as freedom fighters and peaceful protesters. Makes me puke!
@anon
If destabilization of China succeeds, the country will see civil war and rioting on a massive scale that will spill over into the rest of Asia. Those hoping for the break-up of China had better think of the consequences and be ready to take in loads of refugees.
@msxie0714
The U.S. never cares about the consequences. Just look at their record on regime changes globally, particularly in the middle east. They invade, conquer, rape their resources, form a puppet government then leave. They never rebuild the local infrastructures of war-torn countries that they’ve destroyed. This is why there’s so much commotion in Venezuela and Iran at the moment. They have some of the the largest supply of proven oil reserves. The U.S. tried to overthrow Maduro with a puppet government. Failed. Now the US sanctions Venezuela from doing business with any other countries while freezing all of their assets in the USA. This is economic terrorism – plain and simple. The US has no rights to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries no matter how they feel about that government. The days of the USA being a world police is over.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change
@terrycrews19 that’s true. What an irony!!! Those Western idiots are hypocrites & so-called police of human rights.
The REAL truth behind the Hong Kong protests.
https://youtu.be/x5JbM5V9_Lw