Study Buddy (Explorer): Rising number of thefts on flights to Hong Kong
Each week, this page presents a light article with questions to test your comprehension.
Hong Kong police said there were 169 cases of items being stolen on flights this year. Photo: Elson LiContent provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] Hong Kong police reported 169 cases of items being stolen on flights to the city so far this year. The losses totalled HK$4.32 million in the first 10 months. There were more cases in this period than in each of the busy tourism years of 2018 and 2019.
[2] Security minister Chris Tang Ping-keung has said the city only had 103 thefts on planes in 2018 and 147 in 2019. He was responding to a question by a lawmaker about the rising numbers.
[3] Tang said the rise in cases could be related to calls for people to tell police about thefts. “The number of theft cases on board aircraft has also recorded a significant increase in 2024,” he said. “[This] might be due to the fact that police have stepped up publicity to encourage more people to report crimes, or the overall economic situation.”
[4] Hong Kong had 92 cases in 2023, its first year without Covid-19 travel restrictions. Tang said 70 per cent of the thefts in 2024 were on short flights arriving from countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, India and Vietnam.
[5] Another 20 per cent were from places such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Qatar. Others included mainland China, Japan, South Korea, the United States, Canada, Australia and Switzerland. He said most of the stolen items were cash, expensive jewellery, watches and credit cards. The value of the stolen goods reached HK$4.32 million in the first 10 months of the year.
[6] Tang promised to do more to stop the crimes. An association earlier said the issue was a “growing concern” for airlines based in Asia-Pacific. Airlines are working to protect passengers against criminal groups. The association said these global groups targeted wealthy travellers.
[7] The security minister said police were working closely with the airlines and Hong Kong’s airport. He said authorities were gathering information to prevent and stop the illegal activity. For example, a database of suspects has been set up to gather intelligence.
[8] The government has also increased its exchange of information with airlines. Authorities are sharing intelligence with airlines to find out which routes are high-risk. They also want to see which times of the year are the most dangerous for thefts. Tang said the government was using crime prevention seminars to remind airlines to monitor routes. Airlines were also told to make sure crew members were aware of the theft cases on flights.
[9] But the minister said police did not intend to install security cameras in planes or put officers on flights to stop crime. Tang said this was because of privacy concerns. “There are no international policies regulating the installation of [cameras] or arrangements of security staff on duty inside cabins,” he said. “[These are not] common practices generally adopted by airlines.”
Source: South China Morning Post, December 4
Questions
1. What was the value of items stolen in the first 10 months of 2024, according to paragraph 1?
2. Paragraph 2 says the number of thefts on flights to Hong Kong has ... since 2019.
A. fallen
B. risen
C. not been recorded
D. remained the same
3. In paragraph 3, what are two possible reasons for the increase in the number of thefts on planes this year? (2 marks)
4. Decide whether the following statements about paragraphs 4 and 5 are True, False or the information is Not Given. Fill in ONE circle only for each statement. (4 marks)
(i) Most of the in-flight thefts last year happened on short flights.
(ii) The thieves mostly targeted cash, jewellery, watches and credit cards.
(iii) Short-haul flights from countries like the United States and Switzerland were particularly affected by thefts.
(iv) The total value of the stolen jewellery was more than HK$2 million.
5. According to paragraph 6, criminal groups target ...
A. airline crew members.
B. frequent fliers.
C. budget travellers.
D. wealthy passengers.
6. Find a word in paragraph 7 that refers to something “not allowed by law”.
7. What types of information are police trying to discover, according to paragraph 8?
8. What is the intended audience of the crime prevention seminars in paragraph 8?
A. airline staff
B. travellers
C. crime syndicates
D. police force
9. Do police plan to install cameras on planes flying to Hong Kong, according to paragraph 9? What reason is given?
Answers
1. HK$4.32 million
2. B
3. increased public reporting of crimes, and the overall economic situation
4. (i) NG; (ii) T; (iii) F; (iv) NG
5. D
6. illegal
7. high-risk routes and periods in which crimes are committed
8. A
9. No, because of privacy concerns.