Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Xinjiang anti-terrorism cop to lead Hong Kong garrison

Xinjiang anti-terrorism cop to lead Hong Kong garrison

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
People gather on a quiet Sunday afternoon on the grounds outside the Central Government Complex in Hong Kong’s Admiralty district. AFP

Xinjiang anti-terrorism cop to lead Hong Kong garrison

A general who led China’s anti-terrorism special forces in Xinjiang has been promoted to head up the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Hong Kong, state media has reported.

The appointment comes as Beijing is remoulding the international business hub in its own image and run the city according to its laws after destabilising protests in 2019.

Under the city’s mini-constitution, Hong Kong has its own police force but China has maintained military barracks there since the city’s 1997 handover when colonial Britain’s forces left.

A new national security law has also empowered the mainland’s security agents to operate openly in the city.

China’s official Xinhua news agency announced on January 9 that major general Peng Jingtang, deputy chief of staff of the People’s Armed Police, has been appointed the Hong Kong garrison’s commander by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Among the few details released on state media about Peng’s career is his former post as the chief of staff of the Armed Police Corps in Xinjiang, part of China’s paramilitary police force.

Three years ago Reference News – a branch of Xinhua – reported that a new special force called Mountain Eagle Commando had been formed in Xinjiang “for the anti-terrorism needs in the region and across China”.

Peng was quoted in the report as being the force’s leader.

“Every single bullet of ours is aiming at the battlefield,” he was quoted as saying, alongside revealing that the ammunition spent by Mountain Eagle in training sessions over a single year was three times what other units use.

China has blanketed western Xinjiang in a security crackdown in recent years after ethnic riots in the capital followed by attacks by Uighur militants.

Dense deployment of paramilitary forces and massive surveillance systems were installed to stamp out what the ruling Communist Party described as widespread Islamic extremism and separatism in the region.

Campaigners say at least one million Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking, mostly Muslim minorities, have been detained in Xinjiang camps alongside a deliberate campaign to assimilate the minority group’s religion, language and culture.

Washington has labelled the crackdown a “genocide”.

After initially denying the existence of the Xinjiang camps, China later defended them as vocational training centres aimed at reducing the appeal of Islamic extremism and Beijing denies a genocide is taking place.

Peng is replacing his predecessor Chen Daoxiang, who is reaching the retirement age.

Under Chen’s leadership, Hong Kong’s PLA soldiers have become more visible – during the 2019 protests they cleared debris following a confrontation between demonstrators and police, as well as holding frequent drills simulating crowd control and anti-terrorism operations.

China’s leadership has dismissed the city’s huge democracy rallies, portraying the movement as “local terrorism” and separatism, rhetoric similar to that used for Xinjiang.

Dozens of prominent democracy campaigners are in jail on national security charges.

MOST VIEWED

  • Joy as Koh Ker Temple registered by UNESCO

    Cambodia's Koh Ker Temple archaeological site has been officially added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17. The ancient temple, also known as Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, is located in

  • Famed US collector family return artefacts to Cambodia

    In the latest repatriation of ancient artefacts from the US, a total of 33 pieces of Khmer cultural heritage will soon return home, according to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. In a September 12 press statement, it said the US Attorney’s Office for the

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • Kampot curfew imposed to curb ‘gang’ violence

    Kampot provincial police have announced measures to contain a recent spike in antisocial behaviour by “unruly’ youth. Officials say the province has been plagued by recent violence among so-called “gang members”, who often fight with weapons such as knives and machetes. Several social observers have

  • PM outlines plans to discuss trade, policy during US visit

    Prime Minister Hun Manet is set to meet with senior US officials and business leaders during his upcoming visit to the US for the UN General Assembly (UNGA), scheduled for September 20. While addressing nearly 20,000 workers in Kampong Speu province, Manet said he aims to affirm

  • Manet touches down in Beijing for high-level meetings

    Prime Minister Hun Manet arrived in Beijing on September 14 for his first official visit to China, where he is slated to attend the 20th China-ASEAN Expo and meet other leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Upon his arrival, Manet laid a wreath at the Monument