Mainland and Hong Kong police combat crimes
( 2003-12-02 10:18) (HK Edition)
The number of crimes
committed by mainland commercial-visit permit holders this year has attracted
the attention of both the mainland and Hong Kong police authorities.
Police Commissioner Tsang Yam-pui made the comments yesterday in a meeting
with delegates from the Public Security Ministry headed by Assistant Minister
Meng Hongwei during the 12th bilateral talks between the mainland and Hong Kong
police authorities.
Tsang said the recent introduction of the "individual visitors scheme" had
not produced any significant problems for Hong Kong but admitted that some
people coming to Hong Kong on commercial-visit permits have been involved in
illegal activities, fostering certain crimes and social problems.
During the first 10 months of this year, Hong Kong police arrested 12,054
mainland criminals. Of that figure, 6,000 to 7,000 were commercial-visit permit
holders.
Hong Kong police will liaise with permit-issuing authorities on the mainland
in an effort to reduce the crime rate. Local police are focusing their enquiries
on companies suspected of arranging illegal dealings for commercial-visit permit
holders. Mainland law enforcement authorities, meanwhile, will carefully observe
those companies that may not truly exist or may be a cover for illegal
operations, Tsang said.
Meng Hongwei also discussed the law and order situation in the mainland. He
reviewed the police co-operation arrangement between the mainland and Hong Kong
and agreed to maintain the relationship under the present framework.
Meng said that even though the current international situation was unstable,
especially in the Middle East, terrorist threats to the mainland and Hong Kong
were quite low at the moment. This being the case, the mainland and Hong Kong
would continue to exchange information and co-operate further through training
programmes.
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