Senate Estimates: Australian Law Enforcement Trains Hong Kong Police
Liberal Senator James Paterson expressed concerns that Australian law enforcement trained “a branch of the Chinese Communist Party’s police service.”
Australian Federal Police (AFP) are facing tough questions after the Hong Kong Police Force was revealed to have toured AFP sites and undertook training in Australia.
Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson has questioned AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw about this visit, saying Hong Kong police were a “branch of the Chinese Communist Party’s police service.”
The Hong Kong Police Force revealed it had visited AFP departments in Canberra and Perth recently and completed training at the Australian Institute of Police Management in Sydney.
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“It seems ironic to me that we are training, ourselves, a branch of the Chinese Communist Party’s police service in Hong Kong, particularly in light of the fact of their horrific treatment of pro-democracy protesters during the debate about the national security law, which is not just a historical issue but a contemporary one,” Mr. Paterson said.
The Liberal senator questioned if this level of cooperation with the Hong Kong Police Force was appropriate given recent human rights abuses.
Mr. Paterson cited several recent examples, including locking up opposition politicians, unionists, and media proprietors
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