A former mainland security official said an Interpol annual event to be hosted in Hong Kong in November would showcase the SAR police force’s capabilities.

Hong Kong's hosting of the Interpol general assembly will see the city gather, for the first time, more than 1,000 police executives from around the world.

Speaking to RTHK in Beijing, former vice minister of public security Chen Siyuan said the event held great importance.

"This is a major event of great practical and historical significance. It is also an event that the Chinese authorities, especially the Chinese police, attach great importance to," he said.

"It strengthens international exchanges and law enforcement co-operation to jointly combat transnational crimes. It is a meaningful event."

Hosting the annual event in the SAR for the first time holds, Chen said, great significance.

“[The meeting] would showcase the capabilities of law enforcement and international exchanges of Chinese police, including Hong Kong police,” he said.

“I believe this year’s Interpol meeting should include rich content, including international law enforcement co-operation, and content that we need to discuss in accordance with Interpol’s principles.

"The content should be quite extensive and I believe [the event] can yield fruitful results.”

Chen said he hoped global law enforcement agencies could reach a consensus through exchanges at the meeting to step up their war on online scams as they were harmful to people all over the world.

With the efforts of Interpol, mainland and Hong Kong police forces, he said, online scams can be rendered less ubiquitous to pose less of a risk to people and their hard-earned assets.

Chen also called for closer co-operation between mainland, Hong Kong and Macao police forces.



Edited by Thomas McAlinden