A British company that sold tear gas to Hong Kong has promised to review its sales policy after Sunday’s police crackdown on protestors, but passed the buck to the UK government. Fair enough.
Chemring, based in Hampshire, has for several years been selling the crowd control weapon legally to Hong Kong police, who have been stockpiling canisters. When they finally made use of them (for the first time since 2005) at the pro-democracy Occupy Central protests on Sunday, fingers were pointed at the chemicals firm.
However, speaking to the Guardian, Chemring stopped waaay short of apologising, and said that although they would review any future sales to the territory, all exports were “ultimately approved by the the UK government” and therefore totally legit.
Appearing on the BBC’s Daily Politics show, UK foreign secretary Phillip Hammond confirmed that the exports were all above board, but stressed that the UK government does not condone the use of CS gas against peaceful protestors. Good to know.
A government spokesperson told the Guardian: “We rigorously examine every licence application on a case-by-case basis against the international exporting criteria and will take the current Hong Kong disturbances into account in assessing future export licence applications.”
A spokesperson for the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) called on the UK government to conduct a full investigation and immediately cancel any current licences to sell tear gas to Hong Kong.
Don’t worry guys. They’ll run out soon.
Photo: Laurel Chor, Coconuts Hong Kong
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