Hong Kong police watchdog backs controversial handling of protests

Report falls short of public expectations as city's political tensions intensify

A student runs from riot police in Hong Kong in November 2019. In a 1,000-page report submitted on Friday, the Independent Police Complaints Council examined more than 20,000 protest videos and reviewed nearly 7,700 public complaints. © Reuters

MICHELLE CHAN, Nikkei staff writer

May 15, 2020 19:19 JST

Updated on May 15, 2020 20:45 JST

HONG KONG -- A Hong Kong police watchdog found the force's contentious handling of the monthslong anti-government protests "reasonable" in a long-awaited report released on Friday, while conceding that there is "room for improvement" in officers' operation guidelines.

The report fell short of expectations from the public and government critics, who have been calling for a legally binding and independent inquiry into alleged police brutality -- one of the protesters' major demands that the city's leader has repeatedly rejected.