Letters | Why Hong Kong is not London of 2011: protesters here have clear political aims and wide community support

Carrie Lam’s comparison of the social unrest in the two cities is off the mark, but should not stop her from learning a lesson from the past: policing by water cannon does not work

Reading Time:2 minutes

Two water cannon trucks and an armoured vehicle arrive as clashes break out between riot police and students protesting near the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, with tear gas and petrol bombs exchanged, in Hung Hom on November 17. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 6:45am, 3 Dec 2019Updated: 6:45am, 3 Dec 2019

Dear Carrie Lam,

I am very pleased to hear that you remain committed to a public dialogue. Perhaps you can organise meetings with each of the new district councillors in the next few days; they have been very active in reaching out to all sectors of society recently, and they are unlikely to be fired for expressing a political opinion.

However, I’m worried by your comparison of our situation to the 2011 Tottenham riots, and your plan to set up an independent review committee. You do understand that a review is not an inquiry?

I lived in Wood Green before moving to Hong Kong; seeing the streets of my former home in chaos saddened me. The riots in the UK had very different characteristics to Hong Kong’s situation. Lasting only about six nights, and initially triggered by the police shooting a man dead, the disturbances devolved into looting and arson and spread to cities across the UK.

Firefighters were attacked by rioters. Theresa May, home secretary at the time, rejected the use of water cannon: “The way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon. The way we police in Britain is through consent of communities.”

The rioters did not settle on a set of demands or manifesto; they were not a political force and were not supported by local communities. Police violence did not escalate. Every one of these is a contrast to our social unrest.

To find the causes of our social unrest, look at the protesters’ five demands, and dig into the concerns behind them. The peaceful mass protests at the beginning and the peaceful election landslide on November 24 clearly demonstrate strong support for the political aims throughout society.