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Don't sell tear gas to Hong Kong, says CAAT – but Hong Kong trade unionist warns against endorsing anti-China violence
Police stand guard on a street after clearing a road block during a march marking the anniversary of the Hong Kong handover from Britain to China, yesterday

CAMPAIGN Against Arms Trade (Caat) has called on British authorities to end sales of tear gas, pepper spray and other crowd-control ammunition to Hong Kong.

The campaign said that Hong Kong security forces had used tear gas and pepper spray against protesters and noted that in 2014, Hong Kong police had used tear gas made in Britain.

But a leading Hong Kong trade unionist warned that Western observers should not “conflate” largely peaceful protests with the “rioting, vandalism and arson” deployed by violent anti-China extremists.

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