Five men and four women have been arrested in Hong Kong after police discovered what they say is highly explosive material in an abandoned TV studio on the outskirts of the city.
Authorities claim that the group was planning some sort of attack ahead of this week’s crucial vote on political reform in the Hong Kong legislature, the South China Morning Postreports.
The paper described those arrested as “radical activists”—among them a student, a construction worker and a teaching assistant—and quoted an unnamed police source as saying they were part of a Hong Kong separatist organization that had already discussed online plans to detonate a bomb.
At a press conference Monday afternoon local time, police declined to cite the name of the organization for what were described as “operational” reasons. However, a Superintendent Ng confirmed that officers had found “several kilograms of solid substance and five liters of liquid substance we believe to be chemicals linked to [the making of] explosives.”
Police also found at another location three bottles of the “major raw material” for the making of the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP). TATP has been used in several terrorist attacks, notably the London bombings of 2005 in which 52 died and hundreds were injured.
Along with the alleged explosives, authorities claim to have found maps showing locations in the city’s Admiralty district, which is home to the legislature, the headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army and the office of the highest official in the Hong Kong government, known as the Chief Executive. Locations in the neighboring district of Wanchai—a diverse area where luxury hotels and offices can be found as well as the city’s red light strip—were also allegedly marked.
A police spokesman told the press conference that there were “possibilities” that the suspected radicals were planning to “do something” at those locations.
Political tension has remained high in Hong Kong since last fall’s pro-democracy Umbrella Revolution. The city is sharply divided between those who advocate political conciliation with China and those who want Hong Kong to be run under fully democratic lines with almost total autonomy from Beijing.
Pro-democracy demonstrators are sprayed with pepper spray during clashes with police officers during a rally near the Hong Kong government headquarters on Sept. 28, 2014. Xaume Olleros—AFP/Getty ImagesA pro-democracy demonstrator gestures after police fired tear gas towards protesters near the Hong Kong government headquarters on Sept. 28, 2014. Xaume Olleros—AFP/Getty ImagesRiot police use tear gas against protesters after thousands of people blocked a main road at the financial central district in Hong Kong, Sept. 28, 2014. APPolicemen rest following pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong on Sept. 29, 2014. Xaume Olleros—AFP/Getty ImagesA protester raises his arms as police officers try to disperse the crowd near the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 29, 2014. Carlos Barria—ReutersProtesters gather in the streets outside the Hong Kong Government Complex on Sept. 29, 2014 in Hong Kong.Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesPro-democracy demonstrators hold up their mobile phones during a protest near the Hong Kong government headquarters on Sept. 29, 2014. Dale de la Rey—AFP/Getty ImagesA protester sleeps on the streets outside the Hong Kong Government Complex at sunrise on Sept. 30, 2014 in Hong Kong.Paula Bronstein—Getty ImagesProtesters take part in a rally on a street outside of Hong Kong Government Complex on Sept. 30, 2014 in Hong Kong. Anthony Kwan—Getty ImagesJoshua Wong, leader of the student movement, delivers a speech as protesters block the main street to the financial Central district, outside the government headquarters building in Hong Kong Oct. 1, 2014. Carlos Barria—ReutersProtesters react as Joshua Wong (not pictured), leader of the student movement, speaks to the crowd outside the government headquarters building in Hong Kong, Oct. 1, 2014. Carlos Barria—ReutersA protester holding an umbrella stands on the street close to the Hong Kong Government Complex on Oct. 1, 2014 in Hong Kong. Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesA local resident breaks through police lines and attempts to reach the pro-democracy tent on Oct. 3, 2014 in Mong Kok, Hong Kong.Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesPolicemen try to get a man to let go of a fence guarded by pro-democracy demonstrators in an occupied area of Hong Kong on Oct. 3, 2014. Philippe Lopez—AFP/Getty ImagesA pro-democracy protester sleeps on a concrete road divider on a street outside the Hong Kong Government Complex on Oct. 5, 2014 in Hong Kong.Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesThe statue "Umbrella Man" by the Hong Kong artist known as Milk, is set up at a pro-democracy protest site next to the central government offices in Hong Kong on Oct. 5, 2014. Alex Ogle—AFP/Getty ImagesA pro-democracy protester uses bamboo to strengthen a barricade blocking a major road in Hong Kong on Oct. 13, 2014. Alex Ogle—AFP/Getty ImagesDemonstrators walk past notes hanging on a wall outside the Central Government Offices in the Admiralty business district in Hong Kong on Oct. 17, 2014. Brent Lewin—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesTents set up by pro-democracy protesters are seen in an occupied area outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong's Admiralty district, Nov. 12, 2014.Vincent Yu—APA young Hong Kong couple who did not give their names wear gas masks as they pose for a wedding photographer prior to their marriage next to the tents used by pro-deocracy demonstrators at the Admiralty protest site on Nov. 14, 2014 in Hong Kong.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesPolice face pro-democracy protesters on Nov. 19, 2014 outside the central government offices in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong. Alex Ogle—AFP/Getty ImagesPro-democracy activists join arms as they face off with police outside the Legislative Council building on Nov. 19, 2014 in Hong Kong. Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesPolice officers disperse pro-democracy protesters outside the Legislative Council building after clashes with pro-democracy activists on Nov. 19, 2014 in Hong Kong. Lam Yik Fei—Getty ImagesPro-democracy protesters climb up a wall as police officers disperse them outside the Legislative Council building after clashes with pro-democracy activists on Nov. 19, 2014 in Hong Kong. Lam Yik Fei—Getty ImagesPro-democracy activists sleep outside the Legislative Council building after protesters clashed with police on Nov. 19, 2014 in Hong Kong. Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesPolice arrest a pro-democracy protester on Lung Wo Road outside Hong Kong's Government complex on Nov. 30, 2014 in Hong Kong. Anthony Kwan—Getty ImagesA young student studies in a makeshift classroom set up on a main road at a major pro-democracy protest site in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong on Dec. 1, 2014. Anthony Wallace—AFP/Getty ImagesA demonstrator is taken away by policemen, at an area previously blocked by pro-democracy supporters, outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Dec. 11, 2014. Athit Perawongmetha—ReutersPro-democracy protesters remove signs placed up during the past two months of protests from the area around the protest camp but leave intact the notice "We are dreamers" in the Admiralty in Hong Kong on Dec. 11, 2014.Pedro Ugarte—AFP/Getty ImagesHong Kong police dismantle the remains of the pro-democracy protest camp in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong on Dec. 11, 2014. Pedro Ugarte—AFP/Getty Images
