Hong Kong’s Protesters Turn Their Anger Towards Expat Police Officers

Hong Kong’s police force has recently garnered serious attention in light of the protests gripping the city. Some of these skirmishes have turned violent. Now, a particular facet of the force is becoming the center of the protesters’ mounting anger: its small group of expatriate officers.

The force has 32,000 members in its entirety. Prior to 1997, before Hong Kong’s handover to China by the British, the police force held about 900 expat members, most of which were British. Today, there are 60 or so expat officers remaining on the force.

As tensions between Beijing and Hong Kong bubble over, Western officers are being perceived by protesters both as legacies of colonial power and representatives of China. Both labels have provoked anger.

In June 2019, the first incident involving the publicizing of expatriate officers arose. A video depicted British superintendent Justin Shave ordering junior officers to shoot tear gas at a protester. The clip amassed anger when it surfaced.

Some of these officers have had their personal details published online after appearing on the frontlines of a demonstration involving the use of tear gas. Two senior officers became the faces of wanted posters which were plastered around the city.

Chief Superintendents Rupert Dover and David Jordan’s pictures were paraded throughout the protests. Some posters had the words “blood debt” written in Chinese. Dover has been on the police force since 1988.

“They have been through an ordeal,” said Neil Taylor, Chief Inspector and Chairman of the Overseas Inspectors’ Association.

He described how the children of these two officers are being targeted by bullies in their schools. In another incident, “a wife was approached in a supermarket and abused.”

An anonymous colleague stated, “Both have said ‘it’s tough, but we have a job to do’.”

Hong Kong stopped recruiting foreigners in 1994. The foreigners who were encouraged to remain on the force became integral cogs in the overall machine. They were initially persuaded to stay to help with the transition of Hong Kong in the handover. Former head of the colonial police’s Criminal Intelligence Bureau, Steve Vickers, said of the expat officers, “their presence was valuable, and indeed desired.” He said that they were advantageous in that “continuity and confidence was maintained.”

In 2017, some retired officers told the South China Morning Post that their demise in numbers was “inevitable”. They believe they were significant in the making of Hong Kong’s history. British rule in Hong Kong lasted 156 years.

Nevertheless, the protester’s anger seems to encompass both Hong Kong’s colonial history and its current political situation. The expat officers who were exposed during the protests were mainly viewed as pawns of the Chinese government. Joshua Wong, a democracy activist, condemned a police officer he spotted, saying, “You are British and you serve the interests of Beijing.”

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