Several senior Hong Kong police officials feel caught between a rock and a hard ...
Exclusive: Hong Kong police "trapped in the middle" by polarizing extradition billHONG KONG - Several senior Hong Kong police officials feel caught between a rock and a hard place as city leader Carrie Lam tries to ram through contentious extradition laws that have triggered violent clashes between police and protesters.
The clashes wounded 22 police and more than 60 protesters, as demonstrators advanced toward the legislature, hurling bricks, iron poles and sticks, while barging their way forward with metal barricades. Lawyers, judges, business-people, rights groups and foreign governments have called on Lam - who says the initiative was hers and not Beijing’s - to scrap the bill.
Some senior police officers say Lam’s refusal to heed public opinion is sowing resentment in the force, which was already battered by accusations of police brutality during the 2014 pro-democracy “Umbrella” civil disobedience movement. “There’s definitely a feeling that we’re trapped in the middle,” said a senior police officer who declined to be named as he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.At the same press conference by Hong Kong’s police chief, a group of more than 20 photo-journalists donned hard hats and gas masks in a symbolic protest against what they considered to be the excessive use of force by police during the unrest.
The protesters this time, unified for a very specific goal - to prevent a policy seen as an existential threat to Hong Kong’s unique global position - have pledged not to back down.
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