HONG KONG – A general who led Chinas anti-terrorism special forces in Xinjiang has been promoted to head up the Peoples Liberation Army in Hon
HONG KONG – A general who led China’s anti-terrorism special forces in Xinjiang has been promoted to head up the People’s Liberation Army in Hong Kong, state media has reported. The appointment comes as Beijing is remolding the international business hub in its own authoritarian image after huge and sometimes violent democracy 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 Sunday 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 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.
