Dr Andreas Fulda appearing on France 24.

Why are Hong Kong triad gangs attacking pro-democracy protesters? - Dr Andreas Fulda explains on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live and France 24

On Sunday night of 21 July 2019 pro-democracy protesters, commuters, journalists, lawmakers as well as women and children where savagely beaten by triad gangs in the MTR train station of Yuen Long, a northern district in the New Territories. 

To make sense of this dramatic escalation of violence on Monday, 22 July 2019, the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute's Dr Andreas Fulda gave a round of interviews to BBC Radio 4 World at One, BBC Radio 5 Live and France 24.  

In conversation with BBC Radio 4 journalist Sarah Montague Andreas drew on precedents in Hong Kong and Taiwan and outlined that "it is by now an established fact that the Chinese Communist Party is indeed using triads to suppress the pro-democracy movements in both regions". You can listen to the full interview on BBC Radio 4 World at One here.

In response to a France 24 presenter’s question what Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam could do to de-escalate HK protests Andreas argued "she is politically responsible for the HKSAR government truly morphing into what could be termed a mafia state". In his reply to a follow-up question whether the Hong Kong Police Force indeed colluded with triads Andreas pointed out that "there is a lot of video evidence to suggest that there were police around" and that "they turned a blind eye to mob rule." You can watch Part 1 and Part 2 of Andreas' France 24 interview on their YouTube channel.