Hong Kong's Security Secretary John Lee yesterday said the Chinese-ruled city was facing the risk of "home-grown terrorism" after several police reports of finding explosive materials.
It was unclear whether any of the incidents were related to the anti-government protests that rattled Hong Kong the previous year before pausing in recent months amid curbs to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The latest incident involved a suspected homemade explosive device mailed in an envelope to police headquarters. Police said it could have injured anyone within 1m.
They said an explosive ordce disposal team dealt with it and evacuation was deemed unnecessary.
In recent months, the police have said they had discovered explosive substances and devices across the city, including in a downtown school and on train tracks near the mainland border. They said some homemade devices were discovered at protest sites the previous year and during raids of homes where protesters were arrested.
"I want to remind people of the risk of rising home-grown terrorism," Mr Lee told reporters. "Some might die because of bombs, buildings might be demolished."
"I asked police and other law enforcement agencies to strengthen the work related to that," he added, saying that this could include using terrorism-ficing legislation to freeze the assets of those involved.
Critics say the authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing are increasingly using the threat of what they term terrorism to justify calls for new national security laws. A previous attempt to draft a national security law for Hong Kong was met with mass protests.
REUTERS