Ho Iat Seng, the sole Chief Executive (CE) candidate, said today that he did not consider that the police detentions at Senate Square for investigation last night were some kind of ‘White Terror’.
The term White Terror – associated with political repression of dissidents during the martial law period in Taiwan – has been used recurringly by Hong Kong protesters as a criticism of the conduct of police authorities while dealing with public unrest, with some local residents using the term to describe the local police action yesterday.
“I think the police just invited people for investigation but not to arrest them, it’s not related to white terror, […] I am not sure about the situation at that time since I was not at the scene last night, but I believe that the police dealt with the situation well,” he mentioned.
All seven people detained were released after questioning, with a Hong Kong student questioned for five hours and a local couple only released from police custody at the Praceta 1 de Outubro police station at 2:20am.
The Public Security Police Force (CPSP) rejected a request for a silent protest against Hong Kong police to be held at 8:00 pm on August 19, on the grounds that the protest was supporting illegal activities in Hong Kong.
Although the protest organizer had dismissed the protest, police authorities still held operations around Senate Square last night, with a total of seven people detained for questioning.
The CE candidate also did not comment on whether the public unrest seen in Hong Kong could expand to Macau as well.
